Replacements
by Iced Fairy
Summary: A Shipgirl base requires a lot of ships. Some battle against the Sirens. Others run supply missions. And many sacrifice their rigging and station so others can fight better. Deprived of purpose, and left cut off from the life they knew. At least until disaster strikes the main fleet, and they're called back into emergency service.
1. Chapter 1

The deer in Minneapolis' sights was nervous. As if it could sense the hunters about. Well that was normal for prey she supposed. Still it was annoying waiting for the skittish animal to hold still. The water was right there. And it had to drink at some point.

The air was humid today. The area was supposed to be a forest, but it felt more like a swamp. It made Minneapolis' choice to wear her usual abbreviated garb more reasonable. Her dark skin would blend with the shadows just as well. Lesser hunters might worry about thorns or poison ivy, but her ability to scan the area was super human.

One of the few things she'd kept thankfully.

Finally the deer lowered its head and began to drink. Mni took her chance. She aimed just above the beast's heart, letting the sights line up perfectly before pulling the trigger.

Her prey bounded away as the crack of the rifle rang out. It made it three steps before keeling over, dead from the massive blood loss.

"Well done," Indianapolis said behind her. Minneapolis grinned at the other shipgirl. Her fellow wasn't much for the kill, but she was fine on the hunt. A quiet backup. Something Mni could appreciate.

"Thanks," she replied as she shouldered her rifle. It still felt unnatural. But then everything did compared to her rigging.

No use worrying over that though. She walked over to the deer pulling out her knife. Indianapolis followed suit. Dressing their kill was much easier with two people working it. Especially since she didn't want to miss a scrap.

This deer would fulfil its purpose, even in death.

As they let it drain Indianapolis started up a fire and began cooking the sweetmeats and other organs that wouldn't keep as well. Mni cleaned off a few rocks to sit and dine on, and broke out two beers from their supplies. She looked up at the sky. Still early morning, so no need to camp here. "Guess we'll make it back in time for dinner."

Indy nodded. "We can share," the girl replied quietly as she began finishing off the seasoning. The sizzle of meat was heavenly to Mni's ears. She was glad she was upwind, otherwise she'd be dying of anticipation.

A few minutes' worth of eternity later Indy slipped the meats onto some plates and walked over to join Mni. She accepted the beer in exchange for the meal and nodded as Mni clacked the necks together.

Her duty to the cook complete, Mni dug in while it was still hot. It was lightly seasoned, but you could really taste the quality of the meat like this. Any true hunter would be proud of this meal.

It helped that Indy cooked it. The other cruiser girl was mediocre at shooting, but had learned how to cook a lot better than Mni. You'd think tossing herbs, salt, and meat into a pan would be easy. But it never turned out as good when she tried it.

She finished off the meal and licked the plate clean. Indy gave her a look for that, the shipgirl's single golden eye glimmering, but she shrugged. "It's bad to waste food," she replied before drinking some of her beer. It didn't look like Indy agreed, but the other shipgirl's annoyance faded.

After all Indy understood better than most what it meant to be thrown away.

The temperature began to rise as Mni finished off her beer. It was good they'd caught their prey before it could start getting really hot. The sweltering weather was a minor inconvenience on the hunt, but it always dragged at her on the return. She stood. "Well you gotta return from the hunt sometime."

"Yeah." Indy's reply was unexpected, but heartening. The two had little in common other than being heavy cruisers with dark skin. But they worked together well.

Mni grinned and decided to turn enthusiasm into action. "Alright. I'll start packing the deer. Let's get everything together and head back.

The next hour was spent carving the deer, placing it into their cooler, and smothering the fire so it couldn't spread. The rest of the beers were drained along with that work, though Minneapolis was careful to keep all the bottles.

That handled they grabbed their much heavier packs and began the long walk back to the road. Insects buzzed about as the two slipped through the forest, following game trails and streams. Indy didn't say anything, but the quiet steps gave Mni the calming feeling of companionship as they continued back.

Still she was tired and sweaty when they got back to the truck Minneapolis had requisitioned. Technically without permission, but the base wasn't well kept. She'd just put in a form after.

As she slipped the cooler into the back Indy hopped into the driver's seat. Mni gave her friend a glare, but the other ship was unmoved. "You drive too fast."

Mni rolled her eyes. "I drive fine." Still she hopped into the passenger side.

"Sudden stops and acceleration aren't fine," Indy replied.

"Not my fault I'm used to being more responsive," Mni muttered.

Indy's expression shifted and the other girl nodded before starting back towards the naval base.

Mni looked out the window as the forests rolled by. With the air conditioning on it was actually pleasant. A nice view, and great hunting. But it still felt wrong. The ocean was nowhere near. Hell they barely had a lake to work with.

"I wonder..."

She looked up in surprise at Indy's words. The cruiser rarely started a conversation. Mni kept quiet to try to encourage the other woman to finish her thought.

"I wonder why they kept us in the military." Indy looked over at her. "We can't fight without our rigging. And there's no need for infantry against the Sirens." Indy continued along the road. "We're just taking up resources."

That was a good question. One that a lot of the shipgirls at the base had asked themselves. "Maybe they feel sorry for us. They got all those fancy shrinks here pretending they understand us after all. Need to keep us poor shipgirls from losing our minds." She didn't think highly of it, but it was better than ripping her rigging off and just letting her out on the street she supposed.

Indy shook her head slowly. "Shouldn't they be treating us like normal girls? Not letting us live in a military base with guns and trucks we can steal?"

"I dunno." Mni stretched. "I mean don't we get twitchy when we're away from a commander for too long? Thought that was something they said about the destroyer girls they let loose."

"We also have problems where there's too many of us in one place," Indy pointed out. "It has to cost a lot to have so many bases. Even if they let a lot of the more common girls leave."

Mni ground her teeth. That was an issue. She knew she couldn't stand seeing another Mni around. Even before she'd been forced to give up her rigging to power the other woman up.

Finally Mni shrugged. "Damned if I know. Can't say I care really either. Just getting by. One day after another."

"Hm." Indy turned her eyes back to the road. Not much to say to that.

They continued along the two lane road, as the small base they called home slowly came into view.

* * *

Tirpitz slowly flipped through the book that had arrived with morning mail. It was a alternate history where the Sirens hadn't provided wisdom cube technology to the world. She wasn't hurt by the Axis being the villains, but the actions of the political leaders seemed almost cartoonishly barbaric. That is if any cartoon could show some of the horrors suggested.

Still the idea of massive ships crewed by hundreds of soldiers was interesting. She wondered how those warship crews would be as hurt by avoiding war as she was. If being a sailor on a weapon meant something different than being created as a weapon. If others would have known the disappointment of being held in reserve until the day they died.

It was, all in all, a pleasant way to spend an afternoon alone. She had plenty of time to sit and muse on such matters. Today as she had in that past life. At least she had more books and less nosy carriers bombing her.

The clack of sandals on the wooden pier reminded her that while there weren't as many bombs, there was still a nosy carrier. It was almost amusing, given how much the woman tried to keep up her no nonsense warrior persona.

Tirpitz carefully marked her place, closed the book, and looked up at Kaga. "Yes?"

"Indianapolis and Minneapolis returned from their little hunting trip with a deer." The foxgirl smoothed her many tails. "They're offering to share it with us. If you're willing to join us in the main mess hall."

"Why wouldn't I?" Tirpitz asked as she stood. "It's air conditioned. Which means it's the only room in the base that's tolerable." Technically the whole base had air conditioning, but the units were in such bad repair Akashi could only keep the mess hall and the dorm cooled.

Kaga folded her arms. "I wondered if that might destroy your 'Lonely Queen of the North' mystique. Like how you don't bother training with the rest of us."

The contempt in the carrier's words was hidden, but not well. Probably the Sakura Empire's equivalent of public cursing. Still Tirpitz couldn't help but smile. "The rest of us? I fear you're the only one who bothers training." Kaga's ears twitched as Tirpitz walked past. "I am used to never being called upon. It's a painful reality."

Kaga fell in behind her. "The weak are food for the strong. I intend to be strong again one day. You should consider that as well."

Tirpitz felt something akin to comradery at the words. However... "It's not the same. You were a battleship once yourself were you not? Those little pop guns they let us play with are nothing compared to the roar of our cannons. I'd probably learn more bad habits then good ones."

"So you haven't given up," Kaga said.

"I know better than to put faith in providence," Tirpitz replied.

For good or ill.

* * *

Indianapolis was restless.

She wasn't sure why. And she wasn't sure how to deal with it. Before, in an earlier life, when she felt like this Portland would inevitably do something stupid. And after the fight she'd feel relieved.

But she'd never had a Portland after she was revived. Mni had become a good friend. Perhaps even closer in some ways then she'd ever been to her sister ship. But where Portland was a bubbling font of brainless cheer, Mni's energy was razor sharp and always looking for something to do.

Which was why at times like this, when Indy's blood was sparkling and the eye that held her forbidden power throbbed, she could do nothing but nurse a bottle of alcohol and wait for it to pass.

Of course today she was in good company. Most of the base had shown up. It was a small group here, mostly 'rare' ships. But everyone was happy to try the fruits of Mni's hunting and her cooking. It was always nice to see their spirits lifted. Usually a cloud of despair and regret hung over everyone. A good meal couldn't remove the dark feelings from everyone's hearts, but it could bring some happiness and joy to calm them for just a little while. Even when they were surrounded by old surplus tables and plastic chairs instead of a proper base.

"Indianapolis." She looked up to see Tirpitz standing there. "Thank you for the fine meal. You've become an excellent cook."

Indy nodded politely. The Ironblood Battleship always seemed more like a Royal Navy boat. Both in attitude, and dress with that well tailored admiralty uniform. Then again she had looked more Ironblood than Eagle Union herself, before she'd lost her rigging. "Thank Minneapolis for the ingredients."

The battleship smiled. "I already did. She told me to thank you for cooking them."

That was nice of her friend. Indy turned back to her drink-

And then pain flared through her eye.

As she swayed in her seat Aoba burst through the door. "Everyone, turn on the news! Right now!"

Indy shook her head to clear it as the rest of the crowd began yelling back and forth about what was happening and where the remote was. The pain started to fade, just as the TV turned on with a hiss of static.

"We repeat, a major attack on the fifth fleet's naval base has caused significant damage. We're watching live as the battle continues-"

Her stomach dropped as she slowly turned to the TV. She saw distant flames on the screen, with the sharp flashes of anti aircraft fire. The video shuddered as a distant bomb hit. And then there was a bright flash and another shuddering boom as an oil stockpile blew.

"So," Kaga whispered in the silence, "this is what it's like being on the other side of a harbor attack."

* * *

Indy had known that second things were going to change.

What she wasn't expecting were the orders that arrived, along with a escort to the airport.

She, along with most of the base, were being recalled to active duty.

* * *

_An apology to everyone following Void of the Sky. That's kinda hit a brick wall. Meanwhile this popped into my head and would not let go, so I followed the words. Wasn't sure it would finish, but I've gotten everything but the epilogue and editing done so I'm transferring it from AO3 to here._

_For those unaware of Azur Lane, I encourage you to look up the ships on the AL wiki. For most there's good historical data as well, which I'll be pulling from. I'd link it myself but hates links._


	2. Chapter 2

The base was still smoldering as the transport plane approached.

Kaga examined the damage from above, trying to ignore the fact that it had been inflicted on her comrades. Oil storage and the supply depots had been trashed of course. Such lovely targets were difficult to pass up, especially with the chaos the sequential explosions would wreak.

It made sense they'd hit the docks as well. That's where the combat rigging was adjusted. The damage there would prevent the base from deploying the full array of fleets, since resupply would be hampered. Technicians were already swarming over the area, repairing and replacing the valuable emplacements.

What was strange was the massive damage to the dorms. The base should have had enough time for the girls to get their emergency rigging ready. Even when Kaga had struck at Pearl Harbor a lifetime ago, she hadn't gotten enough surprise to hit shipgirls while they were sleeping. Death at that point was certain.

Kaga hoped the commander who'd allowed such a disgraceful defeat had been removed from duty.

"They hit us hard," Tirpitz said, looking over her shoulder. "This is much worse then when the Royals kept me locked in port."

"Looks worse than the damage my sister and I inflicted on the Eagle Union," Kaga admitted. "And on a larger scale." She let her gaze shift to the waters. The patrols were out in force. Along with shipgirls placing flowers on the waves. It seemed some at least had died in battle. She wondered if the Eagle Union had memorialized their dead so quickly, back in the past.

Tirpitz hummed in thought. "I see." The battleship looked at her. "Do you feel regret perhaps? That in the past you cut our allies' lives short in the same way?"

"Regret?" Kaga was almost offended. But the battleship's curiosity had no judgment in it. "No. The weak die to the strong. That is the way of things. Both back then, and now." Kaga looked down again, and something stirred within her. "I think I might want revenge though."

"Hypocritical, but fair," Tirpitz said, sitting back.

Kaga looked at the woman, her ears twitching. "What do you feel then?"

"Me...?" Tirpitz frowned. "I'm not sure I feel anything, anymore."

* * *

The plane's landing was bumpy. This was the runway that had taken the least amount of damage, but it was hardly pristine. Still Kaga found herself walking out into the brisk sea air soon enough. She couldn't help feel some nostalgia at the familiar scent.

A Belfast was there waiting for them, her perfect maid elegance damaged by a head bandage and two fingers missing from her left hand. Still she faced them with the famous stiff upper lip of the Royal Navy. "Welcome. I'm sorry the commander couldn't meet you, but he's still handling the repair crew requests since his arrival yesterday. I'm sure he'll come out to meet you in person as soon as possible. In the meantime let's get you battle ready."

"Yeah, question there." Kaga's tails bristled as Minneapolis stepped forwards. "Our rigging got scrapped. Even the emergency stuff. How are we gonna get that back?"

For a second pain, despair, and hatred flashed across Belfast's face. It was quick, but Kaga was used to picking out transient emotions. "We are aware. However a fair amount of rigging has become available for use."

The Union ship blanched at the realization, but Kaga just slowly nodded. That made sense. A dark terrible sense.

Belfast looked down at her paperwork. "On that note, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Kaga, and Tirpitz. You are to head to dock 2 for rearmament. Straight ahead. Cassin will show you the rest of the way, then lead you to your quarters."

Kaga saluted. "Yes." Tirpitz and Indianapolis responded with similar precision, while Minneapolis managed something resembling a salute. Oh well. She'd worked with bigger fools in the past.

With that she began walking forwards. The big '2' sign was probably her destination, but she kept an eye out for a Cassin along the way. Fortunately she knew the girl. Small destroyer. Black haired. Kaga had helped kill her once, but it didn't stick. Eagle Union ships were tenacious.

She found the destroyer lazing away right outside the dock entrance. The sleepy eyed girl didn't even bother looking up until Kaga was standing over her. "Welcome to the fleet, I guess."

"Do you normally greet your fellows this way? Or is that reserved for newcomers like us?" Kaga asked.

"First time I've had to greet anyone," Cassin said, walking into the docks. "Been on the 'reserve' list since I was built."

Mni shook her head. "That sucks."

"At least it let me sleep," Cassin replied.

Kaga sniffed in annoyance. This wastrel managed to survive her bombs?

Well that was something for another time. She saw several mechanics up ahead, along with some very familiar gear. They waved the group over. The Vestal supervising pointed towards the two intact berths. "Great. Minneapolis and Tirpitz, can you go first? Those will probably take less time to calibrate."

Kaga felt her ears twitching, but she forced her displeasure down. Soon. She would have her flight deck again soon. No need to be hasty. She had control.

Instead she looked at the lovely flight deck. Blue like the sea and paired with a number of plane talismans. Perfectly suited to fast takeoff and attack. She couldn't help but reach out and stroke the smooth energy construct.

A wave of static as she caressed it caused her to frown. "It's been damaged."

"Did you think the original owners gave it up willingly?" Vestal sniffed. "Of course it's been damaged." The repair ship turned back to where she was adjusting Mni's earphones. "Does this feel right?"

"Little higher," Mni replied.

Tirpitz rolled her shoulders as the back brace that would let her carry a battleship's massive guns was added. "My rigging doesn't seem to be damaged at all. Does that mean..."

Vestal closed her eyes. "Yes. She was killed in the dorms."

"Ah." Tirpitz shook her head. "How ironic."

Kaga turned away from the scene back to her rigging. She saw the damage now. Impacts to the deck's underside, and twists in the waterline defenses. Torpedo damage? She remembered being torn apart by dive bombers, but she'd avoided torpedos.

"Kaga?"

She flinched, her tails bristling. Turning she found her sisters standing there. Akagi, and even Amagi. Alongside her old battleship self.

Akagi took a step forwards, trembling. "Kaga. That's you right?" Her sister's twisted smile appeared and Kaga felt her heart twist. "Right?"

She wanted to reach out. To reclaim the life stolen from her. But she couldn't lie. Not to her sisters. "I am Kaga. But I fear this is my first time on the base." She bowed. "I'm pleased to meet you, sisters."

"You aren't my sister."

It was so simple. Almost cheerful words. And yet they hurt. Kaga looked up to see the spark of madness in Akagi's eyes. The spark that had led them to commit so many crimes to bring back Amagi. And she knew there was nothing that could be done.

It was true, after all. They were sisters. But she wasn't this Akagi's sister.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say. "I hope I can prove my predecessor's equal."

"Whatever," Akagi's smile twisted further. "Just don't show your face around me."

"Akagi." Amagi slapped a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Tirpitz stepped forwards. "Please refrain from threatening my carrier support."

Akagi simply laughed and turned away. Pure contempt and dismissal.

Kaga's vision blurred, and her nose twitched. It took two blinks to realize she was crying. Crying like she hadn't since the day Amagi left her.

She looked up at her other sister. The sister that had rescued her, and sacrificed her life for her. "I'm sorry. Please... look after my big sister Akagi for me, would you?"

"Of course." Amagi reached out and ruffled her ears. "Anything for my little sister."

* * *

Tirpitz was expecting to feel liberated when her rigging was replaced. But other than the enhanced strength she didn't feel much at all. The snapping jaws of her gunports didn't feel like part of her, even though they responded to her thoughts.

She wanted to blame Akagi's nasty remarks, but that would be a lie. She didn't feel all that angry, or even sad. Just the empty calm she'd grown so accustomed to.

At least Mni seemed happy with the change. Tirpitz almost thought she'd start shooting right then and there. Kaga was subdued, though she looked to be regaining her composure. Indy remained quiet of course, but she was frequently was rubbing at crimson stains on her weapons.

As Indianapolis finished her customizations Tirpitz had to ask the one burning question. "Is that a bomb you're sitting on?"

Indy shifted uneasily. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's definitely a bomb," Kaga stated.

The ship girl tried to hide behind her scarf. "It's ornamental."

"It's half the size of your body," Tirpitz pointed out.

"Just don't worry about it," Mni said.

Cassin nodded solemnly. "Don't worry about it."

Vestal smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Tirpitz looked over the Eagle Union ships, but it seemed they weren't talking. She checked to see if Kaga knew something, but the fox carrier looked just as confused. "Very well."

Vestal completed a few more tweaks to Kaga's flight deck before stepping back. "There. Try out a few scout planes."

"Right." Kaga threw out two plane talismans that took to the skies, slipping out of the dockyard. "Seems to be functioning well. I'm impressed at how responsive they are actually. You know carriers."

"Of course!" Vestal smirked. "I worked on Enterprise herself after all."

Kaga nodded slowly. "That would do it."

"And with that you're all ready to go." Vestal looked over at Cassin. "They're staying with you right?"

Cassin pulled herself out of the chair. "Yeah. Me and Victorious."

There was a name she hadn't heard in a while. Tirpitz adjusted her mantle. "Aren't the dorms usually divided by nationality?" It didn't mean much nowadays, but it was easier to sleep around people that hadn't killed you. In theory.

"Dorms are blown up," Cassin pointed out. "Commander's orders are to room as fleet squads while they rebuild."

"Makes sense." Working with Victorious. Wasn't that an odd thought.

Cassin led them out of the dockyard back towards the main part of the base. Between the destroyed dorms, Tirpitz saw several trailers had been set up. "Impressive they arrived so early. Are they positioned there to protect against future raids?"

"I guess." Cassin said as she took another path.

Mni folded her arms. "Hey, aren't we going there?"

"Nope. That's where our camper is." Cassin pointed to a few storage warehouses that had survived the bombardment mostly intact. A set of trailers were sitting there, away from the rest of the group. A flock of seagulls circled about.

"I hope they fix the dorms fast," Indy muttered.

Kaga remained silent. Tirpitz patted her friend on the shoulder. Kaga's tails stiffened, but she didn't complain.

When they got to the lonely trailers Tirpitz could see that the place had only recently been cleaned out. At least the debris had been shoveled off to the side. Tirpitz would worry more if they had to cook here, but hopefully meals would be supplied.

Cassin knocked on the door. "Yo Victorious. The rest of the team is here."

"Ah. Come in!"

The destroyer girl did just that. Indy and Mni were in soon after, with Kaga following. Tirpitz was last in. The place was decently spacious, but still a trailer. She could tell having too many people moving about would be problematic. Fortunately all the girls except Kaga had flopped onto the couches.

Cassin pointed around. "That's the bathroom, couches are obvious, fridge is below the sink. All the oxy cola are mine, so if you grab one toss in some coins. Bunks are at the back and up front."

Kaga's ears twitched. "Please tell me there's a bath somewhere."

"Showers," Cassin said. "Bathhouses were in the dorms."

Mni groaned. "Man, this is worse than the base we started at." Indy sighed and nodded.

"Now now! I'm sure it'll get better!" Tirpitz looked up to see Victorious walk out of the front sleeping area. The woman was wearing the usual loose fitting clothes and the outrageous laurel crown. But she could see the carrier had been crying recently.

Now though she was all smiles. "Welcome! Minneapolis and Indianapolis, right? Cassin's told me about you. A pleasure to work with the Eagle Union again. And Kaga-" Victorious shifted her eyes to the foxgirl. "Ms Enterprise always said you were skilled. I hope to be able to match up."

Kaga's eyes narrowed, but she nodded.

And then Victorious turned to her. Tirpitz gave a nod, and she could see tears forming in the other woman's eyes. "Victorious."

The Royal carrier blinked a few times, trying to clear away the tears. "Ah sorry. It's just... Well, I'm happy to meet you."

"Likewise." Tirpitz said. She sat down in the singleton chair. "So, what can you tell us about life on a functional base?"

Cassin looked over at Victorious. "Suppose I should learn that too."

"Hey," Mni frowned. "Weren't you part of the fleet?"

"Yeah, but just as a placeholder. They had me running patrols." Cassin shrugged. "No one wants a Cassin when they can sail around with a Fortune or a Yuudachi."

Victorious' smile brightened just a little. "Now now. Every ship has their strengths!" The light quickly faded however. "Unfortunately we lost the commander, so I can't say what the new admiral will be like. We're going to meet him at the dining hall tonight."

"I suppose we should figure out sleeping arrangements before meeting the admiral then," Tirpitz said. "It's four bunks in the back and two in the front?"

Victorious coughed. "Well actually, the front has a queen bed. The two there will have to share. The trailers weren't designed for military use." Kaga's ears twitched, and Tirpitz swore she saw Indy flush a little.

Of course others were less concerned with those details. "Probably should take a bunk," Mni said. "You capital ships need more space. Even if I'm a little tall for a cruiser."

"Yeah," Indy said.

Cassin waved her hand. "I already got a bunk set up."

Tirpitz considered the matter. Kaga needed someone close right now, but wouldn't approve of her meddling. Meanwhile Victorious... She wasn't sure where to even start. That left only one move. "I'll grab a bunk or something myself."

"Now that's not necessary," Victorious said. "I'm shorter than you both so-"

"I don't need your pity," Kaga said quietly. "And I'm not going to throw someone out of their room my first day on base."

Tirpitz coughed. "You're both too warm."

"Eh?"

"I'm used to the cold north sea. It's stifling here most of the time." Tirpitz looked at the two. "If I end up in the bed it'll be too hot for me to sleep. I might just take the couch."

Victorious looked annoyed. "Hey now! Don't go making things up to-"

"Oh right." Kaga nodded. "You mentioned that before. That must be annoying. Very well." Victorious looked skeptical, but Kaga's support seemed to convince her.

That disaster averted Tirpitz looked around. "Now where are the towels? If I'm going to meet the admiral I want to be properly formal."

* * *

_I've later learned the attack on Pearl Harbor did not hit the oil or ammo stores. We'll pretend Kaga was less incompetent in this universe._


	3. Chapter 3

Indianapolis loaded her plate high with tempura torpedo alongside a green salad. Dinner was fairly standard, except for the oil cups. Those were reserved for active battle fleets. But now she was part of one.

She looked around the mess tent for a place to sit. Shipgirls seemed to grab tables with little rhyme or reason. At least from her point of view. She checked to see if Portland was somewhere, but she couldn't find her sister.

Instead she moved to follow Mni and Cassin. The destroyer led them to a table with a few other Eagle Union girls. Downes waved as they arrived. "Cassin~! Over here."

"I saw," Cassin said, sliding next to her sister ship. "Heya Omaha."

The cruiser nodded. "Weird we're all with the frontline ships now huh."

"You were reserves too?" Mni asked. "Or replacements like us?"

"Reserves," Omaha replied. "Looking forward to doing some proper scouting!"

Indy turned her attention to the food as the others chatted. The oil was pleasantly sweet, with no harshness like oxycola had. Still she didn't feel she'd missed too much not having it before.

The rest of the meal was honestly lower quality. It felt like it had been churned out en masse. "Maybe I should apply for cooking detail," she muttered.

"Eh? You can cook?" Omaha looked over at her. "How well? And what foods?"

Mni slapped her on the back. "She's great at everything!"

Indy shook her head. "Just main dishes. I'm not good with baking." She'd learned a bit, but it was much harder.

"Ooh!" Downes said, nearly bouncing out of her seat. "We should do a barbeque when! things calm down! Maybe for the Fourth of July!"

"Calm down," Cassin said. "Still that's impressive Indy. Maybe we should do the barbeque."

She was glad her scarf hid her smile. "It's nothing impressive." She hesitated. "But a barbeque might be nice."

"Wish our Indy had learned that. She was always a mess in the kitchen," Omaha said with a weak smile.

Indy felt her heart sink at that. Downes hissed at Omaha and swatted her, but the mood had been killed.

Fortunately a murmur from the front drew everyone's attention. Belfast was leading a man to the stage at the front. He wasn't particularly tall, so Indy tried to stand to see him. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea, leaving her looking at the backs of a bunch of battleships.

When the man got up on the raised stage though she got a better look. He was older than most admirals. Probably early fifties, with greying hair. However he was still a striking figure in a perfectly pressed uniform. She could see the gleam of medals on his chest, but from this distance she couldn't make out the particulars.

After a bit of fussing on Belfast's part he got a microphone and began the address. "Good evening. I am Admiral Nagumo. And I'll be taking over the third fleet for now." Indy's eyes widened. He was one of the original admirals, back when the shipgirl project started. "It's a very difficult time for us. I know you've all suffered great loss. Let's have a moment of silence for the casualties we've endured."

Indy lowered her head along with everyone else. She might not have known them, but they were comrades.

After a moment he cleared his throat. "Now we must move forwards. Against the Mirror Seas that damage our world, and these new Sirens that attacked us so brazenly. I promise you all vengeance, as your previous admiral would have wished."

Indy's eye twitched. She couldn't help but feel something was wrong about the way that was said.

"I wish I could meet with each of you right now," the admiral continued. "But unfortunately there's a lot of work to be done, and not a lot of time to do it. I still want to get to know you all better, and so I'll be scheduling meetings with your fleet groups as soon as I can.

"I do know I can trust all of you to do your best in service to the fleet. We'll be beginning our work to rebuild and find the Sirens that struck us. Expect orders as soon as tomorrow morning." The admiral saluted. "Vengeance will be ours."

Applause filled the room, and Indy joined in weakly. It still felt wrong to her, but the others seemed to approve. She'd trust the veterans.

As the applause petered out, the Admiral nodded to everyone, and stepped down. He spent a few moments speaking to Akagi and a few other carriers before heading out. Mni frowned. "Why isn't he eating with us?"

"Oil is poisonous to humans," Indy pointed out.

Mni shrugged. "Still." She looked over at the other girls. "Did the old admiral eat with you?"

"Not really," Omaha said.

Cassin snorted. "He ate with _ some _shipgirls. Private dinners that lasted a loooong time. We didn't rate though."

"Oh." Indy chewed on her lip. Well that was a thing.

Mni shook her head. "Man and here I thought Kaga was being hard on him just because he got surprised."

"Just don't say that in front of Akagi," Downes muttered.

"Of course," Mni replied. "It's Akagi."

The conversation turned to more pleasant things from there. Indy hung around the edges, enjoying her food. Maybe she could use oil as a flavoring for the barbeque. As part of a second basting of course.

As she was collecting her dishes on the tray to clean up, she noticed Hammann standing behind her. She turned to face the destroyer, waiting to see what the other woman wanted.

"Um, Indianapolis..." Hammann looked away before turning back. "Could you come with me? There's someone who wants to meet you."

"Hm?" That was curious. Indy nodded however. No reason not to find out who.

Mni tapped her on the shoulder. "Mind if I come with?" Indy motioned her friend to follow.

Hammann strode quickly out of the mess tent towards a building marked with a red cross. It hadn't been touched, though Indy figured that was probably because it was almost never in use.

The hospital was bustling, despite it being so late at night. Meals were being delivered, visitors were going in and out, and staff were performing checkups. Fortunately shipgirls automatically regenerated so long as their wisdom cubes were intact. Even lost limbs could be healed.

"Who are we going to visit?" she asked as Hammann led them down one of the halls.

"Well." Hammann shook her head. "You'll see."

Mni flicked the girl's cat ears. "You need to say what you mean."

Indy was about to ask again when she saw the name on the next room. Portland.

She didn't remember entering. She just found herself by her sister's bed. Portland was on a breathing machine, several monitors keeping track of vitals.

The damage was... terrifying. Both legs shattered, one hand lost, and Indy could see her core was cracked. Her rigging, or what was left of it, was still attached. The doctors must have decided it would increase her survival chances if she had access to her full powers.

She knew this wasn't 'her Portland.' The previous Indianapolis had been this woman's real sister. But she still remembered everything from a lifetime ago. Her vision blurred as tears overflowed.

"What happened?" she managed to whisper.

Hammann didn't talk to her though. She grabbed Portland's shoulder gently. "Portland. Portland. Wake up. She's here."

Indy was about to slap Hammann when Portland's eyes opened. She froze as her sister's gaze fell on her. "Indy?" Portland blinked away some tears of her own. "Indy... You survived. I'm glad..."

She reached out, but her sister's eyes closed just as quickly. The monitors slowed as Portland's sleep calmed down.

Her attention turned to Hammann who was still standing there. "You used me. You used me to lie to her."

"So?! She needed something!" Hammann turned away. "We're not going to lose her too!"

Mni grabbed Hammann and spun her around. "You shoulda told us! Not set up this bullshit."

"She needed to believe Indy survived," Hammann muttered. The destroyer girl was tearing up now. "She wasn't going to make it! You see her cube!" Hammann started sobbing. "Just- she can't even survive a retirement remodel! She's... she..."

Indy took a deep breath, before putting a hand on Mni's arm. "You shouldn't have lied to us. Or her." She turned away, wiping her eyes. "When she wakes up again, tell her the truth."

She couldn't stay here any more. She walked out. A few seconds later, Mni followed cursing.

Her friend caught up as they got outside. "Hey slow down a bit Indy." Mni put a hand on her shoulder. "Total bullshit what she did to you. But Portland was... pretty hurt. Maybe it'll help?"

Indy's fists clenched. "She survived me dying once. She can survive me dying again." A few deep breaths later, she regained the rest of her composure. "But I hope she recovers soon."

Mni squeezed her shoulder. "She will. We don't give up easy. And when she does we'll see her."

"Thanks."

* * *

Victorious hugged her pillow closer. It was so wonderfully warm and fluffy. It was better than she remembered. She didn't want to wake up, sun be damned.

"Get up."

"Just five more minutes," Victorious muttered, squeezing her pillow again.

"If you must sleep, fine. But you need to let go of me," Kaga said.

That startled Victorious awake. She blinked and found she'd been cradling Kaga's tails. "Oh!" She released Kaga and sat up. "My bad. But they are very comfortable."

"I know." Kaga smoothed them out. "However they are not a pillow."

"Sorry, sorry," Victorious smiled. "Well we're awake now so let's prepare for the day!" She threw on her clothes, grabbed a towel, and stepped out into the main trailer.

Tirpitz was lying on the couch, clad only in frilly lingerie that was near see through in most places. Victorious couldn't help but note that Tirpirz's uniform hid some rather impressive curves.

Kaga pushed past her. "Did you fall asleep agai-" Victorious took some pleasure in seeing Kaga freeze for a moment. It meant it she wasn't the only one with a crush. And that Kaga hadn't gotten far with the battleship.

That brought a pain to her chest. She hadn't gotten close enough to the previous Tirpitz herself. A mistake but she forced a smile. She was Victorious, and so she always had to show the beauty of victory.

The view improved as Cassin loudly walked out of the bunkbed area, stirring Tirpitz awake with a shiver. The battleship looked around blinking. "Hm?"

"Th-" Kaga shook her head. "Have you heard of something called a nightshirt?"

"This seemed easier," Tirpitz replied.

Cassin turned her tired eyes to the battleship. "Where'd you get that kind of underwear anyway?"

"Graf Zepplin suggested it to me," Tirpitz said, reaching for her outfit. "Why do you ask?"

"It looks quite nice." Victorious stepped forwards and offered Tirpitz the bedroom. "Still you should probably change in there."

"Why?" Tirpitz asked. The woman was so wonderfully dense.

Minneapolis pushed past Cassin. "Hey we going to the showers, or we standing around here watching you three enact the dumbest romantic comedy ever?"

Tirpitz blinked in confusion, while Kaga started up one of her torpedo planes. Victorious decided it was a good moment to intervene. "Indeed. We should hurry before the rush starts."

"Mm." Indy stumbled into the room and proceeded right out the trailer door. Everyone took that as a sign to follow along. After Tirpitz threw on some clothes of course.

However as they approached the showers Victorious noticed some commotion at the front. "Oh my, what's that?" It seemed like something had been posted outside.

As they approached she saw they were orders. Specifically supply run orders for the next day. "A mission already?"

"More supply runs?" muttered Cassin. "Fun."

Mni patted the destroyer on the back. "Hey, let us new girls have a chance to warm up our guns! I mean I suppose it'd be fun to rush right into the action, but it's probably better to do some target practice first."

"Hrm, I suppose that's true," Kaga muttered.

"And we need the supplies," Victorious added. "A carrier without planes is a little sad."

Tirpitz nodded. "As is a battleship without fuel." She turned to Victorious. "You'll have to tell us about the new Sirens though. Just in case we fight them."

_ White corpses bleached by the sea, hair like kelp, weapons fused to their bodies. And everything was covered in fire. _

Victorious shook her head to dispel the visions. "Ah. Yes. Later." She couldn't think about it now. She had to be Victorious. The symbol of triumph for all.

The rush of hot water helped clear her mind and reinforce her smile. It's too bad the baths were gone so she couldn't linger. But she felt strong enough to face the day.

As their little fleet gathered outside, Cassin pulled out a bottle of oxycola. "So if we're gonna chat about the new Sirens and the attack on the harbor we're gonna wanna grab a TV or something."

Victorious nodded. She wasn't fond of the thought, but some things were better shown then described. "There should be a setup in warehouse 12. The Ironblood destroyers had movie nights there in German." She'd spent a few good nights there with Tirpitz, when they'd invited in larger groups. But this Tirpitz wouldn't remember that...

The warehouse theater was still ready when they arrived. It was an old screen, but a fairly modern projector. Six rows of chairs sat around it.

"A bit large for our needs, but it will suffice," Kaga said. "Will we need to gather film?"

Cassin pulled out a tablet. "Everything's in here already. At least when it comes to pics of the Sirens. Victorious knows more about fighting them."

Everyone turned to her. "I'm afraid I can't offer too much," she said. "I was in the second line, so most of what I saw was from my planes. But I'll tell you what I can."

"While we set up, can you tell us about the attack itself?" Tirpitz asked. "Perhaps that will help us strategize."

Victorious took a deep breath. "I suppose I should. Cassin, can you add in what you saw?"

"Not much," Cassin said, plugging in her tablet. "We were on the edges of the fight. Spent most of it shooting down planes and firing torpedoes at their destroyer screen."

She took that as a yes, and turned back to the others. "Indy can you lower the lights? And Cassin, bring up a map of the base. That will help me explain." She waited until the map was easily visible before moving up next to it. "I was sleeping in the Royal Navy dorms here when the attack began. The alarm was raised by night sentries, but it came too late."

"The first strike was at the commander's office we believe." She pointed to the building next to the Sakura Empire dorms. "It was leveled by planes moments after the initial warning, resulting in the deaths of the commander, his secretary, and several other ships." She motioned to the Ironblood dorms. "Moments later a second strike hit the Ironblood, while the remaining planes in the raid on the commander's office hit the Sakura Empire girls. That's why casualties for those two nations were so high."

"How?" Indy asked quietly.

Kaga folded her arms. "Indeed. That shouldn't have been possible. If a mirror sea had formed right outside the base everyone should have known. While if they had sortied from further away we should have gotten advance notice."

"I don't know," Victorious admitted. "I imagine command is working on it right now."

She continued the tale. "Of course we rapidly responded to the attack. The first wave was mostly fighters. Then came the destroyer screen, followed by increasingly larger ships. I sent my planes to assist Illustrious in fighting off enemy bombers as much as possible, while the rest of the fleet counter attacked."

Cassin raised a hand. "Should I show a picture of the attacking fleet?"

"Yes." A picture was worth a thousand words in this case.

The projector shifted to a blurry snapshot of that night. Hundreds of ships stretched out into the distance while planes filled the sky. "Gott in Himmel," Tirpitz muttered.

"The hell?" Mni leaned forwards. "How can they throw out a fleet that big without using mass produced models?!"

"We don't know," Victorious admitted. "Fortunately they didn't show much strategy. Most of the enemies just rushed forwards to attack. It was a little dangerous, because they tried ramming techniques, but in the end we lost mostly because of numbers."

"I shot down a lot of planes. Didn't stop them from blowing up the oil though," Cassin muttered.

Tirpitz nodded. "So, what of their abilities?"

Victorious took a few calming breaths before nodding to Cassin. The picture shifted again, revealing the horrid form of a cruiser. Two arms jutting out of a massive lump of flesh and guns. "As you can see they look different from both us and the other Sirens. While they have the same white skin, they look more like monsters then people. They also seem to be much more violent hateful than Sirens ever are." Cassin switched the slide to one of their carriers, its shattered face burning bright. "The more powerful ships look more humanoid, and seem more intelligent, though still less than we are."

She turned around to find Kaga and Indy both staring intensely at the enemy. Kaga's expression was hard to read, but Indy's gold eye was burning with hate. Literally burning. Victorious couldn't help but stare.

Mni noticed and elbowed her friend. "Eye."

"Ah." Indy sunk down, the glow fading. "Sorry."

"No problem," Victorious lied. "It's very striking." She turned back to the projector. "If you could pull up the aircraft Cassin?" Those at least were less disturbing.

She continued on, explaining the enemy to her new comrades. It didn't fully crush the fear and doubt hiding inside her, but it drove them back for another day.


	4. Chapter 4

The sea spray was great. Minneapolis was skimming the water, guns ready, like she'd been designed to do. The only way things could get better was if there was an enemy to hunt. And luckily for her there soon would be.

"How soon until we run into the interceptors?" she asked over the radio.

"Ten to twenty minutes before they'll be within sight range," Victorious replied.

"Stay in formation," Tirpitz said.

Mni rolled her eyes. Of course she'd stay in formation. Tirpitz had to be as excited as she was right? No reason to be such a stick in the mud.

"Any sign of ship girls?" Indy quietly asked.

"Only pawns and knights," Kaga replied. "Easy prey."

Kaga on the other hand was finally getting into the spirit of things. The foxgirl was so prim and proper normally. But Mni could hear the hunger in her voice.

"Contact," Cassin said. Mni heard the rush of Cassin's torpedoes being launched. "Falling back to cruisers." The girl's bored tone was weird to Mni, but then again Cassin was the veteran here.

Soon Cassin came into view, with several black destroyers and light cruisers chasing her. Mni sped up a little, moving to the front of the vanguard. Cassin had done her job. Now it was time for her to start the slugging match. Indy took up the rear, just in case something tried to slip by.

The first ship came into range. Mni lined up her shot with the pawn's magazine before firing off her guns all at once.

It was an exhilarating roar. Nothing compared to a battleship perhaps, but enough to send shivers through her body. Her shots slammed into armor first, then chewed into the ship's innards.

One of her secondary shots hit the ammo, and the second rate destroyer exploded and slipped under the waters. The flames were beautiful. It was better than any deer hunt. She needed more. Her eyes flicked to the next target, and she hotloaded her guns. "Sorry, but I ain't gonna let any of you escape," she muttered as she lined up her shot.

The little destroyer returned fire as she unloaded. Bullets slammed into her body, but most glanced off her armor. The few that did land just left light cuts. She'd taken more damage from paperwork.

Meanwhile her prey shuddered then broke apart as Mni's guns tore through it. She laughed, and began looking for her next target. The hunt had truly begun!

"Airstrike going out," Kaga said over the radio.

"Ah!" Victorious sounded flustered. "Wait wait. Too fast! One more minute!"

Tirpitz called out, "Firing main guns."

Mni quickly targeted another pawn, letting her secondary guns tear through the superstructure while she lined up her shot. As the buzz of planes came about, she pulled the trigger.

The first shot was off a little. She growled and quickly reaimed, hitting the magazine this time. "Ha!" she crowed as the boat exploded right before Kaga and Tirpitz's destruction rained down.

The enemy ships vaporized around her, crushed by heavy battleship guns and bombs. It was impressive, even if they were just destroyers. The capitol ships were slow, but they could unleash oblivion.

But they taken out all her prey. She rushed towards the next line, lining up a shot at the lead destroyer. And then it blew up as Victorious' planes struck the wave. "Damn it!"

She pushed forwards, blood pumping. A Knight class cruiser appeared. Harder target, but still no match for her. She raised her gun and unleashed her full firepower.

Her main cannons ripped through the generic ship's control center, bringing it to a halt. She grinned as her secondary guns ripped through the armor plating, and lined up her finisher.

With a shuddering roar her guns fired again. Fire bloomed then snuffed as the cruiser started to list.

Pain slammed into her side. Mni dodged away. She'd been flanked by another Knight class. But that wasn't a real threat to her. She sprayed its guns with her secondary weapons to slow it down. Her main gun locked a shell in, and she blasted it right at the water line.

It started to sink, but it let out another set of shots. Mni felt the impacts and blood started to trickle down, but she just laughed. They were her prey. They couldn't beat her.

Her guns roared with a full broadside and the Knight disintegrated. All that was left was a puddle of burning oil, and the fire in her heart.

She turned to the few destroyers remaining. The hunt wasn't done quite yet.

* * *

The mission was going well. As well as any trip went.

They'd made it to the supply depot easily after the little fight with the Siren fleet. But now a mirror sea had opened up. A small one, but it still needed to be investigated. And so they were doing both recon and protecting a convoy.

Well Cassin and the carriers were doing recon. After Mni's little killing spree she wasn't gonna let the heavy cruiser near anything that looked like a target. At least not until Cassin had taken a look.

"I spotted something." Victorious' voice came over the radio. "Ships ten degrees West. Twenty miles out. Looks like six shipgirls. Didn't see their classes."

"Understood," Cassin replied. "Investigating." She relaxed a little as she adjusted her course.

Sure enough a seaplane spotted her. Cassin waved as it circled, and the plane waggled its wings. "They've spotted us as well. Non hostile."

"Non hostile?" Mni sounded confused.

"We don't have any fleets in the area," Tirpitz said.

Cassin shook her head. Rookies. Well Victorious probably didn't know either. This was something only convoy ships ran into. "Mirror seas mess with universes. Sometimes they connect us to parallel worlds. And so we run into the other girls patrolling them. Only happens with the small ones that have been mostly cleared out though."

Sure enough as she got close to the other fleet she saw it was a convoy group instead of a battle fleet. Ranger and Oklahoma for capital ships. Shiranui, Indy, and Portland for lead. Must be a training cruise. And there was a Blanc. That destroyer girl didn't exist in their fleets, but she'd run into one or two out on the waters.

She slowed down to let her own crew catch up. Important for rookies to learn the rules of the seas after all. Still she stayed in the lead. Shiranui did the same for the other fleet until they were in speaking range. "Yo."

"Hi." Shiranui nodded. "Any Sirens?"

"We trashed a fleet yesterday but nothing since then." Cassin handed over a thumb drive. "We ran into some new types recently though. Trashed the base."

"Hm." Shiranui nodded in thanks and handed over a few blueprints. "Nothing new for our fleets. Sorry."

Victorious moved up to join the conversation. "So this is where your random pickups come from?"

"Yeah. We destroyers stick together." Cassin said as she pocketed the goods.

Shiranui nodded. "It helps we aren't as annoyed by seeing ourselves."

That reminded Cassin. She looked to see how her Indy was doing. The dark skinned girl was hiding in Mni's shadow, much like how her opposite was hiding in Portland's shadow. Of course. Well at least they weren't fighting.

Portland meanwhile looked like she was halfway to heaven. "Two Indys... Hey can I borrow one?"

"Shut up, Portland," the two said in unison. Cassin snorted.

Kaga shook her head, and looked at Blanc. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you from the war. Who did you serve with?"

"Eh?" Blanc shook her head. "I'm not like you shipgirls. I fell in from my own dimension. But it's fun to help these girls so I drop by occasionally."

"Fun?" Tirpitz rubbed her chin. "I wonder..."

Cassin shrugged. "Different commanders."

"Probably," Shiranui said. "Anyway take care. And good luck with your base."

"Thanks," Cassin replied. "We need it."

* * *

The dock was bustling with dozens of cargo boats. Half the base had been sent out to bring in supplies, and now they were all back. Which meant there was a massive backlog to unload everything. Indy had offered to help.

With everyone pitching in though it had gotten sorted out pretty easily. She was carrying out the last crates right now, using her mechanical arms.

"Thank you very much, nya~" Akashi said. "Akashi can deliver these to the commander then."

Indy nodded. "What are they?" she had to ask.

"Nya?" Akashi blinked. "Well most of it is usual stuff. Oil, ammo, and tech packs. But the big haul was-"

"Ah, the wisdom cubes are here."

Indy looked over to see the commander walk in. A headache started to form behind her left eye. Still she saluted. "Sir."

The man didn't even bother to notice her. "Begin construction immediately. We need a new Portland and a new Fortune. Retire the rest." He walked off immediately after giving the order.

Indy heard a crack, and looked over to find her lifting arm had shattered a box top. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, nya." Akashi shook her head. "Way too blunt. Well, orders are orders. We need the help anyway."

It may be true, but it didn't improve Indy's opinion of their commander any. She made a note to go see her sister in the hospital.

* * *

Tirpitz flopped down on the trailer's couch. She was tired, but it was mostly from carrying boxes. The battle had barely been more than a footnote. Still she'd gotten practice with her gun.

Victorious grabbed a teapot and sat next to her. "Would you like some?"

"Hey now!" Mni grinned. "That's not a proper drink for celebrating our first combat victory. We gotta break out the good stuff." She opened the freezer and pulled out some suspicious unmarked bottles. "Not the best beer, but still a real drink."

Indy blinked. "Aren't those illegal on base?"

"Details details. I mean it takes three times as much to get us drunk anyway," Mni said pressing a bottle into Indy's hand.

Kaga grabbed the other bottle. "I suppose that means we should have some just to keep you from drinking yourself into a stupor." She sat down on Tirpitz's other side.

"Hey." Mni frowned at the fox. "I'm no lightweight."

"Lightweight or not five bottles will defeat you given how fast you drink," Tirpitz said reaching for a cup. "I'll have the tea."

"Cola for me," Cassin said. The destroyer seemed to like the brew.

Victorious poured her a cup. "I'm not sure if I'm more surprised by Kaga being willing to drink, or you passing up beer Tirpitz. Isn't that the Ironblood tradition?"

"That's not Ironblood beer," Tirpitz pointed out, drawing a derisive snort from the Eagle Union ships.

Kaga popped off the cap and took a swig. "The strong should enjoy the spoils of victory should they not? And today we were the strong."

Victorious raised her cup. "Indeed. The goddess of victory smiles on us all."

"Aye." Tirpitz joined the group in toasting the success. She leaned back between the two carrier girls and relaxed.

This wasn't the battle she'd dreamed of, or the future she'd imagined, but the comradery was... warm. Not the stifling warmth of the sun, but something deeper. Strange she first felt that feeling among those who had once been her enemies.

Maybe it was that feeling, or maybe it was just a whim, but she found herself turning to the Eagle Union ships. "I've always been curious. Why don't you heavy cruisers have torpedoes? It seems like a weakness to only have guns for battle."

To her surprise Indy answered. "Better anti air power. Torpedo duty was handled by destroyers."

"I can appreciate being afraid of us carriers," Kaga said. "But doesn't that leave your fleet underpowered?"

Mni laughed. "Don't underestimate our destroyer fleet."

"Yeah." Cassin took a swig. "There are more Fletcher sisters then Sakura Empire shipgirls. And Ironblood girls. Combined."

Tirpitz froze. "What?" Admittedly there weren't many Ironblood girls. Their nation had always lagged behind in construction. But the Sakura Empire's navy was much larger.

"It's true," Victorious said. "When I went to train with Enterprise I saw their shipyards at work. The Eagle Union is really impressive!"

Well wasn't that interesting. She supposed thinking on it there were slightly more Eagle Union girls. And it really was hard to tell the Fletcher sisters apart sometimes. Still, she'd been utterly defeated just by the Royal Navy. It seemed the Sakura Empire was similarly at a disadvantage.

Kaga seemed similarly pensive. "I suppose we were lucky that we held back the Eagles as long as we did."

"Helped that you bombed our fleet first," Cassin said with a pointed look.

"And somehow you survived," Kaga said without a hint of remorse. "In fact you came back stronger. An admirable feat."

Cassin shrugged, but she seemed to accept the compliment.

Tirpitz sipped her tea and looked up to find Mni and Indy looking at her. "What?"

"Well," Mni grinned. "We know Cassin's too lazy to hold a grudge, and Kaga's insane. But what's with you and Victorious? Hear she bombed you. Repeatedly."

Victorious waved a hand. "Now, now. That's all in the past."

"Indeed. She was very polite about it too." Tirpitz hid a grin behind her cup. To tell the truth the carrier had let her off several times. But she wouldn't give away that secret so easily.

"Ah you're too kind," Victorious said. "I just want to make sure that victory is properly glorious."

Tirpitz felt two tails slip behind her waist while Kaga grabbed another beer. Her danger senses started firing immediately. It only got worse when Victorious scooted closer, making sure to lean against Tirpitz and Kaga's tails at the same time.

In the end she decided the smart thing was to completely ignore it. And the looks she was getting from the other girls. This was something to deal with later.

It probably would be best if she didn't complement Victorious' tea or the fluffiness of Kaga's tails right now though.

* * *

Kaga was probably a little drunk.

She had to face the truth. She was a lightweight. It didn't help Mni's beer was way stronger than the woman suggested. She'd have to talk to Indy about that.

For now though she had something she needed to do.

The waters around the base had mostly been cleaned from the battle. Wreckage had been cleared away, and the fires had gone out. But there were a few exceptions. Places where dark oil still bubbled to the surface from those who had been lost.

She found herself looking down at one of those right now. Here was where Kaga had sunk. The her that wasn't her. The Kaga that had taken her life, and that she had taken the place of in return.

"It's unfortunate we could only peacefully meet like this." She knelt down and touched the oil slick. "I wonder why we have so much hate for ourselves. Or perhaps it is our love for ourselves.

"Still, I wish I could have seen you fight. Seen how you defended our name. But I promise you this. I will become stronger." She stood. "This time, we will win."

"Well. This is a little ironic."

Kaga looked up to see Arizona standing on the waves, holding a wreath of flowers. The battleship walked past her to lay the flowers down. "I wasn't expecting you here."

"It does feel strange," Kaga admitted. She turned her attention to the battleship. "I'm surprised you're here as well. Of all the girls, I feel you would have the most reason to accept this as karma."

Arizona shook her head. "I don't believe in karma. And even if I did, she deserves my thanks." She turned to Kaga. "I don't suppose your sisters told you what happened to her?"

"No. Akagi is-" Kaga choked on the words and turned away. She couldn't show this weakness. "Akagi is still in mourning."

"Hm." Arizona was kind, and didn't press her. "In that case I will tell you."

The battleship motioned towards the harbor. "We'd made a firing line here, to repel the ships. It was uneven of course. No time to properly prepare. But we were doing decently against the cruiser mobs.

"That was when the torpedo planes struck." Arizona grimaced. "They passed over the front lines, and unleashed a full attack on the heavy ships."

Kaga remembered the damage she'd seen. "She was struck broadside. Did she not have time to thread the torpedoes?"

"She did," Arizona looked at her. "Amagi did not."

The sick feeling in Kaga's gut told her everything she needed to know about what happened, but Arizona continued. "She turned broadside to shield those behind her. There was no chance of survival. But she protected Amagi, Akagi, Bogue, Kirishima." Arizona bowed her head. "And me."

Kaga looked down at the water, and watched the black oil seep into the flowers. "Thank you," she whispered.

She owed her other self a debt that would be difficult to repay. But she'd shed as much blood as necessary to try.


	5. Chapter 5

The seagulls whined at Tirpitz as she read. Apparently someone had been feeding them on this part of the beach, because they were insultingly tame. Fortunately she didn't have any food, so she didn't need to worry about the pests stealing from her.

The story was progressing much like the war had in her last life. Though it was focusing very heavily on land battles. Perhaps that was why she'd stuck with it.

As she finished another chapter a flash of white caught her attention. Kaga was jogging along the waterside, her tails trailing behind her. Tirpitz put the book away and waved to her friend. "Kaga. Decided to add to your training?"

"Eh, what are you talking about? I always do this!" The woman turned to her, and Tirpitz realized her mistake. This was the younger Kaga, the battleship. "Wait, you're the one with the other me. Don't tell me my older self got lazy."

"Apologies for the mistake." Tirpitz stood. "And no, she's always been the best of us at training. She just focused on her aim and launch speed."

"Hmph." The younger Kaga frowned. "I suppose that's a carrier's job. I'm glad I got to stay a battleship though." She looked Tirpitz over. "You on the other hand have no excuse. A slow battleship will never reach the front. Come on."

It was interesting how much more expressive she was, Tirpitz thought. Despite having the same face. "Fair enough." She did a few stretches, then started down the beach. Kaga's pace was fairly easy to match, though Tirpitz suspected the woman had much more stamina.

"So," Tirpitz asked as they rounded a stone. "How are your sisters doing?"

"Amagi is Amagi," Kaga said with a grimace. "Never speaking her mind and always being the smothering big sister. Akagi..." Kaga rolled her eyes. "She's talking up the new commander. I swear something was damaged in her brain when they remodeled her flight decks."

"Hm, so you've spoken to him?" Tirpitz asked. "I only saw him at the dinner. Indy says he's rather blunt."

Kaga's ears twitched in surprise. "Huh? He hasn't come by your trailers? He visited our group two days ago."

"We were still at sea." Tirpitz considered the matter. Most of the girls in her area had taken two days on commission in fact. "Well perhaps he'll visit us later."

"Likely." Kaga turned back to the path. "In any case he was a little distant, but still charming I guess. Very old fashioned. Akagi took to it immediately."

"And you?"

Kaga's tails bristled. "I don't need some commander to fawn over. Just give me an enemy to fight and victories to win!"

She hid a smile. Apparently teasing her Kaga would work. "My apologies if I suggested otherwise."

As they approached the base Tirpitz saw Victorious prepping a recon plane. She stopped when she saw them. "Tirpitz, Kaga. Good morning!"

"Victorious," Tirpitz nodded. "What brings you here?"

"We have exercises at four today," Victorious said. "I wanted to make sure you knew."

Interesting, Tirpitz thought. Maybe she'd get to fight someone with a little more power. "Thank you." She bowed to Kaga. "And thank you for letting me accompany you on your run. It was pleasant."

"No problem," Kaga said, starting her post workout stretches. "Take care of my older self."

Tirpitz turned back to Victorious. The carrier was giving her a strange look. "Something wrong?"

"So, are you secretly a furry, Tirpitz?"

"What?!"

* * *

Everything Indy had heard about hospitals was about how they were filled with the smells of antiseptic and cleaning agents. This place smelled more of welding and oil, which probably helped shipgirls. Still she felt a little queasy as she walked into Portland's room.

Portland was looking better and worse then the last time Indy was here. Her limbs had grown back, and her sister's core wasn't visible anymore. Most of the tubes had been removed as well, leaving just some IV lines and the monitors. But the shipgirl's face was pale and shrunken. Signs of core damage, Hamman had said.

"Indy?" Portland looked over with heavy eyes. "Is it time for me?"

Tears formed in Indy's eyes and she had to clear them away first. "Not yet." She sat down next to the bed. "How are you feeling sister?"

Portland gave one of the most fake smiles Indy had ever seen. "I'm fine, now that you're here."

"Don't lie to me, Portland," Indy said.

"I have to." Portland closed her eyes and rolled back onto her pillow. "If I'm crying all the time my little sister will be sad."

It hurt just as much to see Portland's fake smile, but Indy said nothing. Instead she placed her hand on her sister's. "Did Hammann tell you?"

"Yeah." Portland looked away, but her fingers interlaced with Indy's. Silence hung heavy around them, filled with words that couldn't form. Feelings that couldn't be conveyed. Finally Portland said, "But I'm still your big sister, right?"

The question tore at Indy's heart. "Of course. You're my big noisy sister." She tried to put a lighter touch on it. "No matter how badly the other Portlands try to steal me."

"Eh?" Portland seemed confused.

"I ran into a Portland on patrol. She wanted a bonus Indy."

Portland's smile eased a little. "Hm, multiple Indys..."

"Shut up Portland."

"Seriously." Indy looked up to see Hammann walking in. "You and your siscon tendencies. It's weird. Why can't you look at other girls?"

Portland relaxed onto her bed. "Because Indy's too cute."

Hammann sighed. "Idiot."

Indy noticed the destroyer was looking at their hands with a certain amount of jealousy, so she gave Portland a squeeze before letting go. Hammann took her place rather quickly. It was good to see her sister had close friends.

As the two other girls started chatting about their friends on base, Indy walked to the doorway. To her surprise she saw Belfast waiting outside a room just up the hall opposite. She leaned against the wall next to the door frame and did her best to listen.

"I'm not hurt too badly. I could be sailing right now." That was Saint Louis.

"There's no need to push yourself." The commander? "A lovely lady like you should rest up. We'll need you all in top condition to face off against these Sirens."

She heard St Louis giggle. "What a charmer. Well I suppose that's true. Still I won't be here too long. Soon Lucky Lou will be at your side again."

"I look forward to it." Indy heard the commander walk out. Belfast's footsteps soon followed. Indy tried to look casual so they wouldn't realize she'd been eavesdropping. But the commander walked right past Portland's room.

Belfast hesitated for a moment, then hurried after. As Indy stared at the two, she heard Belfast whisper. "Commander, do you have any more meetings here?"

"We've seen all the injured shipgirls we need to," he replied. "On to the next task."

The two walked away. Indy took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. Portland would be watching and-

"Indy?"

She turned to see Portland and Hammann looking at her with concern. "Is something wrong?" her sister asked.

Indy covered her treacherous eye. "Nothing," she lied.

* * *

Mni grinned as her high impact paintballs slammed into Vincennes. "Not good enough sister!"

"Augh!" The younger girl waved at her support. "Graf Zepplin help with these planes! We can't beat Mni like this!"

"Sure, I'll just beat Victorious and Kaga solo," the carrier snarled. "You have anti air guns. Try doing your job!"

Cassin shook her head as she unleashed a spread of torpedoes and retreated behind Indy. Mni could only imagine what snarky comments the destroyer girl was holding back.

"Incoming," Z46 said, pointing at the attack.

"Not again!" Oklahoma yelped before getting hit with the dummy warheads. "Ow!"

Mni sprayed paintballs over her sister, getting a whistle from the ref. "Gotcha."

"You're so aggressive sister," Vincennes muttered as she sailed off to the side.

Mni turned towards the rest of the battle but it was pretty much decided. The carriers had sunk Graf Zepplin and Oklahoma. With the early kills, only Z46 was still in the game.

The little destroyer tried to dodge Mni and Indy's fire, only to get hit by a blast of paint from Tirpitz. "Verdammt."

"Victory, orange team!" the ref called out.

Mni caught the towel tossed down to her and wiped off the splatter from the few shots that hit her. That done she tossed it to Z46. "Here."

"Thanks." The destroyer wiped off her face with her own towel before cleaning her hands with the second. "Battleship hits suck."

"Try to avoid them," Cassin said.

Vincennes pouted. "Easy to say when you aren't getting destroyed. Seriously Mni, why can't you take it easy for once?"

"You should space out less sister," Mni poked the girl's forehead. "Asty won't be there to bail you out all the time." Really she had no idea how her more modern sister was so lazy. Sure they'd done their best at Savo Island but... she'd still sunk.

"I know, I know." Vincennes deflated.

"Hmph." Graf Zeppelin joined the group. "Maybe if you found some speck of rage within you, you wouldn't be so useless. Your anti air was weak."

Kaga stepped forwards. "Directionless hatred isn't much better. Your planes lacked focus. If you'd used your dive bombers better my torpedo bombers might have been stopped. Instead you tried just to do as much damage before you sank."

"Is that not a carrier's purpose? To wreak destruction far and wide? To war against the entire world?" Graf Zepplin sneered. "My desire is to destroy everything. What direction does your 'strength' have?"

"My strength is to allow me to do as I wish. When I have a desire worthy of using it, I shall," Kaga said serenely.

Vincennes looked back and forth between the two carriers. "Are they always like this?"

"Yep." Mni shrugged. "They've been like this since Zeppelin came to the base."

Z46 shook her head. "Alike enough to get under each other's skin. Different enough to be even more annoyed by it."

"I'm nothing like that boring fox," Zeppelin snapped. "I strive against that disgusting God, she submits to fate."

"You're throwing your beliefs at me again," Kaga retorted.

Mni patted her sister on the shoulder. "As Z46 said, they're crazy. But if you ignore their weird aimless ideology it's fine."

"Speaking of aimless ideology, what's with you and violence?" Cassin asked.

"Eh?" Mni blinked. "I'm not a violent girl."

Kaga smiled. "You went on a tear through those Sirens. Not that I'm complaining. It was a raid befitting a warrior."

"Oh?" Zeppelin gave her an appraising look. "So when real blood is spilled you can find your urge to crush this disgusting world eh? Perhaps there's something to your hunt."

"Come on you guys." Mni looked at her friends. "I'm not some kill crazy psycopath. I just like hunting. The only difference is I can't use the Sirens for food." Actually that was a thought. "Maybe we could salvage the metal though."

For some reason everyone was looking at her now. "Kinda creepy," Indy said.

"What? I just wanna use all of my prey. Is that so weird?" Mni looked over the other shipgirls. "Come on. At least you support me right Vincennes?"

Her sister blinked. "Nah, you're crazy Mni. Sorry. All of us agree. Asty warned us a long time ago."

Mni groaned. She wasn't that bad, right?

* * *

Victorious stood on the harbor breakwater, letting her planes roam. The seas were free of enemies above or below the waters, but she wasn't willing to relax her patrols. They'd paid too dearly for that mistake before.

"Ah Victorious." She turned to see Illustrious walking to her vantage point. "See anything?"

"Just the usual," she replied to her sister ship. "What brings you here?"

Illustrious adjusted her sun hat. "I wanted to take a look myself. Get a bit of scout flight time as well." She walked beside Victorious. "It's been a while since we've chatted, hasn't it sister."

"It has." They'd last talked right after the raid. When they were counting their losses. "I must apologize for being so upset then."

"Think nothing of it." Illustrious sent out a plane. "So how are your new friends?"

Victorious considered it. She'd thought spending time with a new Tirpitz and Mni would be hard, but in truth she'd come to enjoy the presence of her fellows. "It's nice. Even if Kaga takes up most of the bed. I'm looking forward to getting back in the dorms."

"That will be nice. Still it's fun having so many people together." Illustrious coughed. "Though I suppose it's different for your group sister. Maybe we can move the rest of the trailers up?"

She forced down the pang of jealousy at her sister's words. "The dorms should be back soon right? No reason to rush."

"Fair." Illustrious stretched. "I hope Unicorn gets a room near us again."

"Indeed, that would be-" Victorious paused. She saw a scout ship coming in fast. "Hm?" She flew in close to get radio contact. "Let's see... Foxhound, what's your status?"

"We found those new Sirens! They're massing for another attack. Maybe four days from here!"

Fear stirred in Victorious' heart again, but she turned to her sister. "Sound the alarm. We have a message to give to the commander."


	6. Chapter 6

The mess tent had been turned into a makeshift briefing room via the addition of a projector and a large screen. The fact that there were several containers of oil instead of water on the sides told Tirpitz they would be engaging in an offensive operation soon. That was interesting. She would have thought shore defenses would be a vital addition to their firepower. Then again that would mean increased damage to the port from the battle.

She sat next to Kaga. To her surprise Victorious joined them instead of the other Royal Navy carriers. Perhaps the woman had heard about deployments already? Mni, Indy, and Cassin had joined the Eagle Union destroyers.

"Finally on the attack," Kaga said as Belfast started to warm up the projector. "How does it feel Tirpitz?"

"The same as it did when I threatened cargo convoys," Tirpitz replied. "I'm wondering when the bombs start falling."

Victorious laughed. "Well this time you'll have bombers on your side as well."

The lights dimmed and they all focused on the screen. A map of the coastline appeared, bright red marking the enemy fleet. The commander walked up front. "I will now explain our current tactical situation."

He pointed at the red spots. "The enemy fleet was spotted here approximately one week ago, moving towards our base. Scouts hurried back to inform us of the attack, reaching us yesterday evening. We believe we have three days before the Sirens strike.

"I'm aware this doesn't fit normal Siren patterns. There was no Mirror Sea in the area, and they're moving en masse to attack. Fleet command is worrying about that. We will focus on destroying the enemies before us."

The slide shifted to show the fleet's current position and a dotted line projecting their course. "The fleet attacking us is smaller than the ambush fleet that hit us before. Perhaps three fourths the size. And this time they don't have the element of surprise. I plan to use this opportunity to strike a decisive blow.

"We'll be taking the offensive in order to pin them in the open ocean and destroy the majority of their forces." The slide changed to a close up of the waters about halfway between the fleet and harbor. This time the red was matched with blue, showing a crane wing envelopment. "We will use a pinning force to hold the attack at bay, while two enveloping fleets move to cut off their retreat. The goal is encirclement and annihilation."

Tirpitz looked over the diagram. Easy to say, but trapping opponents on the open waters was hard. And usually an encirclement required three to one odds in your favor. At best their fleet was slightly stronger.

The commander motioned to Belfast and she changed the slide again. It was a picture of the enemy fleet, ships marked with temporary labels. "As you can see, the enemy's carriers are bunched together. The opening will have our carriers strike at theirs. In order to avoid the damage from their counter attacks, we'll be operating in fleet groups. Save your fighters for anti air defense."

Kaga folded her arms. "I suppose gathering together was a mistake at Midway, but we still are dependant on the wind. I hope we don't get caught with our fighters stuck on deck because of that."

"With their air units disorganized you should be able to use our superior coordination to destroy the more dangerous units." The commander pointed at the enemy battleships. "Engage as required in order to exterminate our foes."

The lights flickered back on. "You'll be getting your specific assignments from my aides. I'll leave you to set up communication with supporting fleet units tonight. We set sail at dawn.

"I expect the best from all of you. I'm sure you will deliver." With that the commander stepped down from the stage.

Tirpitz took a deep drink from her oil. "Well. It seems we'll be quite busy."

"Indeed." Victorious was drumming her fingers on the table. "It sounds like a good plan at least."

"Properly aggressive," Kaga said. "Still I'm worried about getting pulled out of formation. Especially if we end up as part of the wings."

Tirpitz considered that. "Still might be easier than the pinning force. They will have to give ground without breaking formation."

"Tch." Kaga looked displeased at that. "Fighting retreats are hard enough for us big ships."

Victorious motioned to Tirpitz and she looked over to see Suffolk approaching them. The maid ship handed over a thick envelope. "Ah, your orders!"

"Danke." She gave Suffolk a nod, then opened the packet carefully. As she sorted out the papers, Mni, Indy, and Cassin approached. "Well it looks like you won't need to worry about moving." Tirpitz spread out the papers. "We're the left hinge of the pinning force."

Victorious folded her hands. "That makes things interesting. I hope we're allowed some movement so Kaga and I can launch our planes."

"One knot radius," Tirpitz said pointing at the circle. "I'll move with you however, so that should allow us to focus our anti air fire."

Cassin sighed. "We getting any help there? The flanks of the pinning force are where the enemy is mostly likely to try to break out."

"Thatcher, Fu Shun, Kagerou, and Koln will be assisting in anti air and preventing an escape." Tirpitz pointed to the group listed next to them. "Oklahoma's fleet group will be adjacent, so we can ask them for assistance as well."

"Looks like we got the prime spot for fighting," Mni said, grabbing an oil can. "Suppose that fits given we've got a lot of heavies."

Kaga grimaced. "I'd have preferred some more light cruisers myself. With three carriers in the area we'll be attracting a lot of bombers. One of your Eagle Union anti air gunboats would be helpful. Zuikaku complains about them whenever she's not gushing about Enterprise."

"Hey I spent the first half of the war screening carriers," Mni said.

Kaga raised an eyebrow. "Lexington."

"No one's perfect," Mni muttered.

"We'll do our best," Indy stated.

Tirpitz gave the cruiser an appreciative nod. "Let's talk to Oklahoma's fleet and develop strategies to quickly aid each other. After that, get some sleep. It will be a long voyage."

"Ha!" Kaga grinned at her. "Look at you, acting all cool. This is your first fleet battle is it not?" She grabbed the papers. "Let me show you how to properly plan a multipronged assault. Bring Oklahoma too. She'll need the help."

Tirpitz snorted but nodded. This would be her first time fighting an engagement with more than ten ships. It would be good to at least listen to Kaga's advice.

Still she had to rally against the foxgirl. "Very well. Would you accompany me Victorious?"

"Of course!" Victorious grinned while Kaga bristled.

Cassin looked between them while Mni and Indy blinked in confusion. "Stupidest Romantic Comedy Ever."

* * *

Half sleep was odd. Indy was aware of what was happening around her, but it seemed less real then her dreams. Her mind worked to sort out the day's events, while her body kept sailing forwards towards the attack point. It was like her mind was only half there.

That reminded her of Tirpitz's books. The fanciful idea of little people 'steering her' slipped through her mind. Though she supposed they'd be on night watch now.

Mni's approach jolted her to awakeness. She blinked a few times to find her bearings. "Yes?"

"Whoops. Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." Mni patted her on the back. "Just was curious about how Portland was doing. Figured you'd have told her you were heading out so-"

"I didn't," Indy admitted.

Mni's frown made Indy feel a little sheepish. "You just left?"

"I didn't want her to worry," Indy said. And she didn't want to face her sister's tears. Portland was very clingy whenever Indy went out on her own.

Mni didn't seem to like the answer, but eventually she shrugged. "Well she's your sister. Just make sure you face the music after, okay?"

"Of course." She'd be back with happy news. That would keep Portland's reaction to something sane. "I'll probably only have to tell her to shut up four times."

"You and your sister got issues," Mni said.

Indy shrugged. "Don't you have similar quirks with your sisters?"

Mni seemed surprised. "My own sisters, huh? Suppose we aren't as close. Asty kinda played with all the kids. I mostly did my own thing. We're test ships, so I spent a lot of time working on different riggings at sea. That's how I missed Pearl Harbor."

"Seems lonely," Indy said. "I know I didn't like sailing solo."

"Well there was usually a carrier there. Only time I was really alone was when I got torn up by torpedoes." Mni grimaced. "That sucked."

Indy nodded. "Torpedoes are cheating." She remembered the sudden pain that came right before she sank for the first time. "Hope there aren't any submarines there."

"Same." Mni stretched. "Well nothing to do but get ready for the fight. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Mmm." Indy grabbed her friend's hand. "You sleep too."

Mni pulled up her hood. "Guess I should. Night Indy."

* * *

Kaga closed her eyes, trying to get the feel of the wind. It was a good headwind, and it wasn't likely to change soon. Excellent.

She turned her attention to her planes. It was a mistake to insist on launching full flights. They'd learned that the hard way when the Eagle Union smashed them. But she still preferred getting all her craft in the air.

They were a little low on fuel, so she chugged a can of oil quickly. With that she'd have enough to launch all her planes. "Ready."

"Ready," Akagi said over the radio. Kaga chewed her lip at the familiar voice. Maybe she'd be able to speak with her sister after this.

The other carriers started calling in their own status. Finally Long Island spoke up. "Ah! I'm good!"

"All carriers launch. Begin the encirclement!" the commander declared.

Kaga let her drones fly. Beside her Victorious' own planes took to the skies, and she could see Graf Zeppelin launch as well. "All attack craft en route to target."

"Linking up!" Victorious said as the woman's bombers and torpedo planes entered formation.

"How much time until second wave?" Graf Zeppelin asked.

"Three minutes for secondary explosions to finish," Kaga said. "We'll keep our planes on combat air patrol, so you should still be able to approach without losing too many."

Zeppelin's dive bombers moved to the proper point. "Jawohl."

The next few minutes were spent guiding her fliers as they waited. She saw nervous anticipation on the faces of her comrades. Not surprising, given they could do nothing but wait. Still they were lucky. This time the battle would be decided by more than the might of carriers.

Not that Kaga wasn't going to try to finish matters.

"Enemy in sight," Victorious said. "That's them."

Kaga ignored the faint waver in the other carrier's voice. Her ally's planes were still on course after all. Instead she let her eyes drift to focus through her planes.

A series of warped and twisted destroyers and cruisers filled the waters before their attack. Ugly creatures, barely human in form. Behind that though she saw the more humanoid Sirens. Faint profiles, but she could tell those were the stronger ships. Battleships and carriers like herself, with a few cruisers perhaps.

Black dots started rising from those figures, and Kaga breathed out the tension. "Enemy planes launching."

"Too late," Enterprise said over the radio. "They won't be able to reach dive bomber height."

After a moment Kaga had to agree. The little dots couldn't rise fast enough. She could focus on her bombers for this run, letting the torpedo bombers just sow havoc and turn to the dogfight after.

"Call out targets," Victorious reminded everyone as they got closer to their main objective.

That would be hard, given they didn't know what ships were which. But they had to try. Mistaken identity was another problem that had haunted her at Midway. Bombing Yorktown twice had given them a twisted view of the battle.

Kaga looked down at the pale battleships and carriers below. Her eyes flickered to one of the carriers. It looked almost pitiful. The entire left side of it's face had caved in, as if it was a broken doll. Long white hair hid some of the wounds that covered its body, but Kaga couldn't help but feel it was a step from death.

Next to it was a nightmare of flesh. Barnacles and seaweed covered its arms and legs, and it had fox ears like her, though no tails. She was immediately disgusted by it. "I'll take the sea mummy with fox ears."

"So harsh," Victorious said. "I'm targeting the battleship with four arms."

As the other carriers called out their targets the wave of antiaircraft fire began. The sky rocked as she did her best to keep her planes intact. It was heavier then she was used to. One of her bombers exploded into bits as the sky erupted.

The enemy planes hit her torpedo bombers, but the barrage didn't stop. "They're shooting their own planes," Zeppelin muttered.

Was that desperation or idiocy? Kaga couldn't say. She focused on her attack. The bombers reached their optimum point and began the dive. A smile formed as she saw they were perfectly aligned.

The release was glorious. The bombs sailed down and impacted. "Three direct hits, two near misses," she said as the enemy was engulfed in fire. A secondary explosion ripped through the Siren and she swore she saw an arm fly out. "Possible kill."

"Five near misses, one hit," Victorious said. "Heavy damage."

Kaga turned her planes to shooting down enemy fighters when possible as the second wave approached.

"Confirmed kill on carrier," Zeppelin said. "Targeting battleship."

"Excellent," Kaga said as the battle raged on. It was only the first strike, but they'd done well. Now things would get difficult.

* * *

Victorious sighed as she lost contact with her last Torpedo bomber. "Oh dear. We're going to be paying Shiranui a lot to replace those."

"That's the commander's problem," Cassin said.

"I suppose so." She turned her attention to her fighter screen. They'd chosen to focus more on dive bombers than torpedo bombers. That meant the other ships would have clear firing lines to the lower planes.

She took a deep breath as the black cloud approached her. They'd be in range soon. She frowned as she saw a second wave. "Strange. Did they launch enough for that big an attack?"

Graf Zeppelin cursed. "They've focused all their planes on our line! They're trying to break through!"

"Then we'll have to stop them," Kaga said calmly. "Requesting permission to meet the enemy line. We might get two passes that way." It would also let them dodge when the enemies started dropping bombs.

There was a long pause before the commander came on the radio. "Approved."

Victorious sent her fighters forwards. First pass would be head to head, so she needed to line up to deal the most damage. "I think the V wing planes have the most bombs," she said as she targeted a squadron.

"Very well. We'll kill those first."

The clash was disorienting. A full third of her fighters lost power and began plummeting to the sea. She let them go into autonomous mode and focused on her other planes. As she turned to focus on the bombers she saw Kaga's Zeros had already engaged. They'd done significant damage, but the enemy was pressing forwards hard.

"It's the same," she muttered as she watched the enemy dive bombers going full throttle. The same as that night. Which meant- "Be careful. They're suicide planes!"

"What?" Kaga seemed incredulous. "They aren't flying like kamikazi planes."

Victorious refocused on her body, letting her planes fly free. "Not like that. They're normal bombers, but they don't care about losses. They're going to keep attacking no matter the losses we inflict. Just like last time."

"Which ships will they target?" Tirpitz asked calmly.

"Whichever ones they see first." Victorious replied. "That was how they'd fought before. It's the torpedo bombers that will aim for the main ships."

"Understood." Tirpitz began drifting away. "Change formation. Destroyers are to focus on evasion. Indy and Mni work on group defense. Victorious, Kaga, fall back with me and prepare to thread torpedoes."

Victorious immediately did as she was told. She could sense her planes getting more and more kills, but as the enemy got closer, she saw it wouldn't be enough. She prepared the few anti air guns she had.

"Torpedoes inbound!" Kagerou yelled. "Heading 10 degrees South West."

She turned to thread the fish, her guns firing at the planes as they passed her. A gout of water and a scream made her flinch, but there was nothing she could do.

Deadly white lines ripped through the water towards her. She looked over the pattern and grimaced. They had her dead to rights. She couldn't dodge them all. But she could limit the damage. She focused on one, and braced for impact.

The torpedo hit her straight on, ripping her gown and slashing up her arms. Blood stained her torn cloak and left her hands, crimson and sticky.

But she'd survived. She stood up, forcing herself to stand as the goddess of victory. "Damage minimal." She checked her planes. "Still have one squadron. Moving to clear out the remaining dive bombers."


	7. Chapter 7

Mni had dealt with bombing runs before, but this was something else. Her guns spat fire into the air as plane after plane swooped in.

The sky filled with smoke and tracers as plane after plane went down. But there were always more. It wasn't like sinking surface ships. The feeling was more desperate, and much less satisfying.

A flash, then a massive fireball told her one of her allies had fallen. "Thatcher!" Kagerou cried. Another explosion and a scream told Mni the Japanese destroyer had taken a hit. She wanted to offer support but all she could do was try to gun down the ones aiming at Indy and her.

Dark bombs released from the bombers above her, and Mni shielded her face. Explosions ripped through the water, sending ocean spray and shrapnel all over her body. Her wounds burned, but she turned to shoot down as many retreating planes as she could. Only after the few stragglers had left gun range did she check her injuries.

"Damage report," Tirpitz called out over the radio.

She took stock of herself before looking at her nearby friends. A few scratches. Indy seemed fine as well. "Near misses scratched me and Indy," Mni said.

Then she turned to where the fireball was. Kagerou was smoking, her left side wreathed in flames. And there was just burning oil where Thatcher had been. "Kagerou's hurt bad. Thatcher's... gone."

Koln's voice came on. "Fu Shun's cut up. I'm mostly fine."

"No damage," Cassin said. "But radar's showing the destroyers are approaching."

"Understood." Tirpitz replied. "Kagerou, can you move?"

The destroyer's radio came on, but all Mni heard was whimpering. Not good. She started forwards to do... something!

Tirpitz's calm voice helped her focus. "Fu Shun, assist her retreat. Join the carriers for anti sub patrol. Indy, Mni, protect those two as they retreat. Cassin, Koln keep an eye on the flank. I will be engaging personally."

Mni nodded. She saw Fu Shun race over to help with firefighting, ignoring her own wounds. That settled she turned to Indy. "Let's go."

"Right." The woman's eye was burning as she did her best to keep up with Mni's speed.

Mni saw the flash of long range fire among the destroyers as she tried to get into weapons range. It seemed like Tirpitz was more eager to get into the fight then she sounded.

As soon as her main guns were in range she began shooting. The twisted creatures were more metal and slime than human. Most barely had half a body worth of parts.

That didn't slow their torpedo fire. It didn't matter. She was going to rip them apart.

Her targets exploded sank and died one by one. Indy's fire tore up more. And every few seconds Tirpitz's guns would rend the sea, destroying whatever was nearby. Within seconds there was only burning wreckage, and a sore leg from an errant torpedo hit.

"Enemies eliminated," she reported.

"Good work," Tirpitz said. "Oklahoma, what's your status?"

The other battleship sounded shaken. "Omaha's sunk. I've lost a turret, and Vincennes took damage to her leg. The main pinning force has taken heavy damage as well."

"Damn!" Mni turned. "Tirpitz can we-"

The battleship was a step ahead. "We'll move to support. Cassin, can you confirm all enemy movement is towards the main pinning force?"

There was a pause, then Cassin responded. "It looks that way, but I can't tell where the heavy ships are. There's so many radar blips..."

"I can confirm," Kaga said. "Cruisers and battleships are further in. They'll be impacting Oklahoma's fleet soon."

"All ships full speed ahead. Engage at will." Tirpitz said. Mni didn't hesitate, cranking her gear past the safety line.

Tracers were flying through the air ahead as she approached. Vincennes was limping badly, but firing as often as she could. Z46 was desperately trying to draw the enemy's attention with rapid fire shelling and torpedoes.

But the cruisers were closing in. Mni needed to act fast. "I'm heading into the enemy formation!" Indy grunted but followed along.

Her first target was a mass of fused limbs and guns. She hit its broadside with sweeping fire. The damn thing kept it's eyes on Vincennes anyway.

Indy's fire swept over a turret and the gun burst. The flames engulfed the monstrosity and secondary explosions left it twisted and burning. Mni ignored it at pressed on.

The next cruiser ignored her as she approached. Its guns lit up and Vincennes cried out again. Mni slammed her gun into the thing and opened up at point blank range. It screamed and died.

That got the rest's attention. Dead eyes and black guns turned towards her. She replied with gunfire. Behind her she heard Indy's gun covering her back. "Now. Let's rumble."

Shells exploded around her, as tracer fire cut through the air. Her gun fell on her foes one by one tearing them to shreds. Each explosion drove her on. More. She had to kill more. Blood spurted from wounds as her armor failed. But she wouldn't stop until they were all dead.

Finally the last one in front of her slipped into the black water. She looked around and saw Cassin and Koln had joined the fight. "Thanks."

"It's not over," Cassin snapped. "Battleships incoming."

Mni turned to where Cassin was pointing. Three black figures stood in the water, slowly approaching. Sixteen inch guns fired, and the water began to explode around them.

"Evasive," Indy snapped, and Mni immediately broke away from her fellows. Her only defense against those guns was speed.

Flashes around the enemy battleships showed Tirpitz and Oklahoma were counterattacking. She grinned as one vanished in smoke and fire.

Then she saw Vincennes get bracketed.

She sped towards her sister. It didn't change anything. The armor piercing shells slammed into Vincennes' torso, shattering her arm and cracking her core.

The only thing she could do was catch the stricken woman.

Vincennes smiled weakly as she bled out. "Sorry sister. I shouldn't have been daydreaming so much."

"Hey!" Mni shook her sister. "Come on. It's not over yet! We can get you to a repair ship!"

"I lied about how bad the torpedo damage was." Vincennes said revealing another wound to her core. "I wanted to win this one..." Her tired eyes started to close. "Tell... Astoria... I'm sorry."

Mni slowly released her sister, letting her body rest on the waves. It was her heart that sunk, down into the back abyss. She felt drained.

Then she felt rage. Her sister had been stolen from her, again. She turned to the battleships. There was only one now, and it was smoldering. Fine. That was the one she'd kill.

She started her engines, but stopped when a hand fell on her shoulder. "Not now," Indy said.

"Not now?" Mni glared at her. "Then when?!"

"Soon." Indy pointed to where the center should be. The flashes from a full capital ship battle were lighting the sky. "The battle is still going."

"Fine." She hoisted her gun. "Let's hunt."

* * *

Tirpitz felt a tiny smile form as the last battleship vanished. Another foe slain in battle. But victory wasn't yet assured. And they'd paid dearly. "Oklahoma, what's your status?"

"I've lost all but my rear turret," the battleship whimpered. "I'm trying repairs, but-"

"It's fine. Move to support the carriers." Tirpitz turned her eyes to where the pinning force was fighting. "Center Line, what's your status?"

Scharnhorst's voice came over. "We're fucked!" the battlecruiser snapped. "We can't hold the line. We need support!"

"You must hold," the commander said. "The other fleet units are approaching. They'll be here in thirty minutes."

"We won't be here in thirty minutes!" Scharnhorst replied. "We need help now!"

Tirpitz finally reached where Mni and Indy were binding their wounds. "Carriers, where's the enemy's main force?"

"12 degrees starboard from your location," Graf Zeppelin said. "But there's some stragglers trying to escape. If we move they'll pass by."

Tirpitz shrugged. A few stragglers were hardly important compared to the collapse of the line. She set her bearings and motioned the smaller ships to follow her. "Understood. Oklahoma, stay with the carriers and fire when able. Everyone else, continue to engage at will."

"Tirpitz," the commander snapped. "What is going on?"

Some words came to her. They were from an Iris Libre general, but they fit well. "Center is giving way, the right is pinned. Situation excellent. I am attacking."

She pushed her speed to max again. Akashi was going to have to completely reassemble her engine gear. But that didn't matter. What mattered now was decisive action.

Indy, Mni, and Koln took up positions in front of her. Cassin and Z46 formed the wings, ready to harry any foes they could. Behind her she knew Kaga, Victorious, and Graf Zeppelin were pushing along letting their fighters do what they could.

And before them all a black and white fleet. One that showed nothing but a desire to destroy. An enemy that united them all.

The command radio sounded. "Tirpitz, you're out of formation!"

"We are where we are needed," Tirpitz said before breaking the channel. No reason to make her mutiny official. That had been a problem the war before hers.

Instead she switched to open channels, then hooked in her loudspeakers. As the enemy's features became more defined she unfurled her battle standard. "Enemies of humanity! I am Tirpitz, the Lonely Queen of the North! Pride of the Ironblood fleet! The power that made the entire Royal Navy tremble in fear! You who seek blood and death, I am here to deliver!"

Her smile blossomed as part of the black fleet before her turned her way. So they could hear her challenge. Excellent. Now to drive the point home. She targeted a heavy cruiser and let her guns fire. Miss, miss, then a hit that covered it in high explosive fire.

The enemies returned fire, shots raining among her makeshift fleet. One fourteen inch shell struck her. But her armor could take that. It was nothing compared to the bombs that had rained down on her at port.

Indy and Mni began firing now, their faster guns laying down a barrage that ripped through armor inch by inch. Tirpitz took that as a signal to launch her torpedoes.

Shells slammed into her right side as a light cruiser swam towards her. Tirpitz gave it a nod for its courage, before letting loose with her own secondary guns. The thing survived her shots, but Z46 and Cassin fell on it like wolves, finishing it off.

Ahead Mni and Indy had moved into the fray again. Mni savaging her targets, while Indy shaped the battle to keep her friend safe.

Her systems told her another salvo was ready. She picked another battleship, and lined up before tearing the air asunder. Flashes lit up the sky as the enemy retaliated.

A heavy impact left her ears ringing. She looked down to see her uniform torn, and slashes in her armor. Just a scratch. But Koln was staggering blind. And a swarm of torpedoes was coming in. "Move to thread."

"Ah!" Koln shook her head, then focused on the fish. The woman looked at her. "Movement damaged. Evasive impossible. Sorry Tirpitz."

Tirpitz clenched her jaw. She'd known there would be casualties. She had to accept that. This was her fault.

Her eyes widened as Cassin ran in front of the light cruiser, guns blazing. There was flame and smoke, but when it cleared Cassin was still standing. "You damn Ironblood give up to easy! Kaga hit me harder by accident!" Tirpitz looked in shock as the flames seemed to heal Cassin's deep wounds.

Eagle Union ships really were tough. She turned away to hide her smile. "You three stick to torpedo duty. This is a battleship fight."

The flash of enemy guns told her she needed to take her own advice. She aimed at the wounded ship she'd fired at before, and retaliated.

Colored water burst around her and the two heavy cruisers. Not good. Both her and Mni had been bracketed by different ships. And she could only hit one.

It wasn't much of a choice. She could take the hit. Another barrage of magnetic torpedoes fired off, as she lined up the battlecruiser she thought had Mni in its sights.

Seconds before the barrage that was sure to hit her, she saw a Zero fighter slam into the battleship's fire control system. "Thank you, Kaga," she said.

"Don't get used to it. I'm short on planes," the carrier replied.

"Understood." Tirpitz smiled even wider as her torpedoes hit a target. This was going better than she expected. Only thirteen more to kill.

* * *

Indy was not happy with her current situation.

They were still alive and intact. But they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Tirpitz was supporting them, but they were still the vanguard. It was going to be a long fight.

Mni rushed forwards, and Indy followed. They needed to be close to their enemies so they could use the other ships as shields.

A battleship's secondary guns lanced into her, and she grimaced. Indy was more heavily armored than most, but it still stung. Her entire body would be bruised after this. She returned fire, trying to take out her enemy's turrets. But even after a full barrage the pale woman stood with just a few cuts.

Mni's fire tore into their target much harder. Was it the woman's rage? Or just skill? Indy didn't know, but it made the black clad ship stagger.

She added her own fire to Mni's trying to focus on the damaged areas. It took three barrages, but in the end they shot through to the Siren's jet black core, shattering it.

Mni snarled and wheeled towards another ship. "Next!"

Indy wasn't pleased, but it was the correct choice. If for the wrong reasons.

The barrage from the smaller guns was starting to punch through her armor now. Her rigging shut out the small pains, but Mini was a bloody mess, and she was probably the same. Still she fought. They tore up the guns of the next ship, leaving it unable to fight.

"Sink to the abyss."

Spray washed over her from a massive explosion. Mni was kneeling now, her left arm a ruin and blood streaming down her face. Indy whirled to see a hooded ship approaching. It had sacrificed its crippled ally to strike.

"Mni are you okay?" she asked, trying to get her friend up and moving.

"Be fine," the other woman muttered. It was bullshit. Indy could see the shot had destroyed the woman's eye. The damage was healing, but the focus required for that trick meant Mni couldn't move.

Indy turned to the battleship approaching. Its guns were lowered. Tirpitz had just fired. There was no way Mni could dodge.

She had no choice.

Her eye burned as she called up the forbidden power she'd carried within. The energy surged through her then out around, creating shields of sickly light. The battleship fired all guns, and the bullets disintegrated. Torn apart by the destructive power of her shield.

Indy released her control, letting the power tear through her surroundings. It caused the battleship to flinch, and Indy fired all her guns into the other ship.

The Siren staggered, losing a main turret, but rose up. Then Mni fired wildly and the enemy's ammo exploded.

Indy took a deep breath. She'd lost three fingers and every part of her outfit was dark red with blood. She'd probably also need to be hosed down to clean off the radiation.

"Sorry," Mni said pulling herself up. She'd wrapped a bandage over her damaged eye, and looked ready to kill. "What's next?"

Indy looked at the five ships moving towards them. "Them."

"Hrm. Gonna be tough." Mni said with a sharp grin.

Her friend meant impossible. They were doomed without help. But they'd broken the enemy's advance.

"Guess this is the end," she muttered. She wished she'd said goodbye to Portland.

They leveled their guns and began to move forwards. Maybe if they juked well enough they could get within range for a few shots.

The radio crackled to life. "It's over."

Indy's heart soared at Enterprise's voice. A series of dive bombers hit the remaining enemies, bathing them in fire and death. It was only a few seconds, but the deadly fleet before them was reduced to smoking wrecks.

Mni laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders. "That's the Grey Ghost for you."

"Good work," Tirpitz said. "I'm putting in a call to Akashi for repairs. But it might be a while."

"Understood," Indy said. They'd survived.

"Combat operations have ceased," the commander said. "Some escaped, but we eliminated most of the enemy force. A great victory."

Indy looked back at the wrecks they'd left along the way, friend and foe. A victory yes, but was it really great?


	8. Chapter 8

This was the closest Tirpitz had ever been to Admiral Nagumo, she thought as she stood at attention. He was obviously from the Sakura Empire. His age was hard to see but closer she could make out the faint lines around his eyes. She supposed that was to be expected from one of the original admirals.

She hadn't expected the raw disgust in the man's eyes. It was well hidden compared to the mad rants of her commanders during the war, but it was unmistakable.

His tone however was perfectly neutral. "Would you care to explain your actions?"

She nodded. "The center was in danger. The encirclement was failing. I thought-"

"You disobeyed orders. And because of you twelve enemy ships escaped, including five carriers." The commander stood and walked right up to her. "We played this off as a victory but with those carriers loose we're all still in danger."

"Forgive me sir, but-"

"But nothing!" He slapped her and Tirpitz instinctively flinched. "Your job is to fight and kill and die! Not pretend you're an admiral!"

Tirpitz remained silent. If she hadn't acted the center would have broken. But he obviously wasn't interested in that discussion. Or any discussion.

He grabbed hold of her collar and glared. "In the old days I'd have you scuttled. But command is weak these days. They'd complain if I lost any more ships. So instead you'll be on night patrols until I say otherwise.

"Dismissed." He shoved her away, and she let herself fall back. Human strength was nothing compared a shipgirl even with partial rigging, but it seemed to make the man feel better. Her arm saluted and she walked out.

Victorious met her in the courtyard. The carrier was smiling, but for the first time Tirpitz saw the shadow hiding behind it. "So, did the commander commend us?"

Tirpitz couldn't help but snort at that. "He threatened to shoot me, and put me on punishment detail for the foreseeable future."

"What?!" Victorious' jaw dropped. "But you saved the entire fleet group! There would have been a complete breakthrough otherwise!"

"I moved from my assigned position against orders," Tirpitz said as she continued on towards the hospital. Nevermind said orders were stupid. "They can't let that just go. At least they aren't bothering with a court martial."

Victorious pouted. "You'd be better off with one! At least then you'd be able to tell your side of the story." She sighed. "Between that and Kaga getting put on tech crate sorting detail it feels like we're being punished for winning the battle. It's not a proper victory."

"We're alive at least." Tirpitz said. "How bad were the fleet's casualties?"

"The pinning force has eighty percent casualties," Victorious said. "The other hinge force took minimal losses, but the center was heavily damaged. Forty percent sunk, twenty percent hurt so bad they'll have to be decommissioned, and the rest in hospital."

Tirpitz grimaced. That sounded like the after battle report from a loss against the Royal Navy, not a victory against the Sirens. "What about the other forces?"

"Hood was hit by a lucky bomb, Long Island was torpedoed and will have to be decommissioned, and Kamikaze was sunk," Victorious shook her head. "A dozen other hospitalizations, but that's it."

"Well, let's visit our wounded," Tirpitz said.

Hopefully she'd get a better reception there.

* * *

Portland was looking better, Indy thought. They'd removed the bits of wreckage that had been left from her rigging, and most of her wounds were closed. She was even looking less pale.

"Indy!" Portland's lungs were working fine too. "What happened?!"

"Had a fight with a battleship," Indy muttered as she walked to her sister's side. "I'm fine."

Portland grabbed her in a crushing hug. "You're not fine. Your poor hand's been mangled. And you've got all those cuts. You have to take better care of yourself Indy! I don't want..."

"You're squishing my bruises, Portland," Indy muttered.

Hammann sniffed. "Serves you right for running out without saying goodbye!"

Fortunately Portland eased up a little. "It was a really tough battle wasn't it? I heard a lot of people got admitted."

Indy nodded. "But we won."

"We as in Indy and I won," Mni said with a grin. It was ridiculous, especially because the woman was still wearing an eyepatch over her wounded eye.

"All our friends helped," Indy said. "Especially Tirpitz."

"Really?" Hammann gave them a curious look. "I didn't hear that in the after action reports."

Indy glanced at her friend. That was odd. "The center was breaking."

Mni seemed confused as well. "Yeah we got hurt. Bad." She clenched her fists. "Our group was lucky. But we still lost too many. The rest of the pinning force... well most of the survivors are in the hospital." The woman's vicious grin returned. "Which is why Indy and I tore up their fleet while Tirpitz shelled them to bits."

"And then the carriers saved you from certain death," Hammann stated.

Indy winced as Portland grabbed hold of her again. "Ow. I'm here sister. You can let go."

"Nope!" Portland loosened her grip, but only a little. "You're staying here Indy! Mni can take this Indy." Her sister pointed to the plush toy she carried with her.

"Portland." Indy weakly pushed away. She turned to her fellows. "Help."

Mni grinned and picked up the doll. "Well I mean it is a fair trade."

Indy got the feeling she'd be here a while.

* * *

Kaga grumbled as she popped open another tech box to find a shipborn repair crane. "Why are there so many of these when we only have two repair ships?" she muttered.

"Blame Akashi," Shiranui muttered pointing towards the recycling bin. Kaga tossed the useless gear.

The next crate was more promising. A set of Zero fighters. Not the highest quality, but passable. She placed those carefully in the stock. "Four star. Fighter."

"Suppose we need a few." Shiranui pushed over a few more gold crates. "Still need lots of dive bombers though."

"Right." Kaga sighed and began opening the boxes.

This wasn't officially punishment detail, but she knew she was being punished. She'd been called out for 'questionable usage of fighter planes.' So be it. She'd dig through the whole warehouse if it gave her the planes to go back into battle.

"My my." Akagi's voice echoed through the warehouse. "Did you finally find your true calling?"

Kaga's ears twitched as she faced her sister. "Hello to you as well sister. How many kills did you get in the battle? I had five."

Akagi's eyes narrowed. Kaga knew very well her sister only had three. "How many fighters did you have to waste to get those kills?"

"Too many," she admitted. "But it was required to help the fleet. A single ship is worth any number of drones."

"That worthless battleship?" Akagi sniffed. "I think a Zero fighter is worth more then any girl who can't even follow my commander's orders."

Kaga snarled. "Tirpitz saved dozens of our comrades from your commander's bad plan."

Akagi blinked in shock before growling in return. "It's their fault they were too weak to perform. If I had-"

She slapped her sister right across the face. As Akagi blinked in shock Kaga stared right in her eyes. "I don't know where I went wrong, but you've become a spoiled bitch. Do you think Amagi is proud of you? Of what we did?"

"Don't you dare!" Akagi grabbed Kaga's shoulders like a vice. "Don't you dare talk about Amagi to me! You're only alive because she sacrificed herself for you! You always take everything from-"

"Are you lying to hurt me? Or did you really hate your sister that much because she died?" Kaga asked quietly.

Akagi flinched. They stood there, shivering with rage and grief and all the madness of their past. Then Akagi whirled away and strode off.

Kaga sat down on a crate, breathing heavily. She hadn't lost her cool like that in years. Not since she'd been a battleship.

It was unseemly of her.

In the end she decided to put it behind her. She stood and turned back to the tech crates. There were a lot more planes to find.

* * *

Cassin nodded to Indy and Mni as she walked out of the hospital. "Thanks for waiting."

"No worries," Mni said. "Surprised you got out so early though. Isn't Downes in for another two days?"

"Yeah. But I heal better than her." And it was a good thing too. If she'd had to spend another day listening to Downes reminisce about nearly burning to death at Pearl Harbor again she'd go crazy.

Indy started down the road towards their trailer. "It's noisy."

Cassin nodded. The sounds of construction were all around. She'd noticed it even in the hospital. Of course she'd had a room with a window. Those with cube injuries had been isolated from the ruckus.

However as they got towards their trailers, the sounds died down into a painful silence. Indy and Mni probably wouldn't realize it, but the place should have been bustling. All the 'second tier' ships going about their business.

But now most of them were in the hospital. Those that weren't at the bottom of the sea. Cassin couldn't feel it wasn't a coincidence. Perhaps their commander hadn't intended to kill off all the second tier and replacement shipgirls. But he'd somehow succeeded.

She kept those thoughts to herself though. Wasn't much that could be done about their commander's incompetence. Especially since shipgirls were hard coded to be unable to attack their superiors. Someone had realized the temptation would be too much for some girls, especially when newly summoned.

At least their trailer looked inviting. All the lights were on, and she could see a pot of tea through the window, waiting. Sure she wasn't gonna drink any, but it made the place feel lived in.

Mni was up the steps and inside before Cassin could even blink. She heard a rummaging in the fridge, but as she walked in she saw the woman had grabbed one of the beers instead of Cassin's sodas. Fair enough.

As she grabbed a soda Kaga and Victorious walked in. Tirpitz was resting in a chair, clothed this time at least. Cassin was a little surprised one of the two carriers hadn't tried to tuck her in or something.

Mni flopped down on the couch, opening her beer. "Finally free. Never thought I'd miss this place."

Cassin noticed Indy didn't look pleased. But the cruiser didn't say anything. Mni, clueless as always just asked, "Want one?"

"I'm fine," Indy said.

Mni shrugged and raised her bottle. "To getting out of the hospital alive and well."

"Suppose that's worth celebration," Cassin said, raising her own bottle of cola.

"Indeed." Victorious smiled. "A victory everyone can share in!"

Kaga leaned against the counter. "That reminds me. When is your sister getting out Indy?"

"Next week they'll finish calibrating her rigging," Indy said. "She should be released then. Though she'll have to stay on base for monitoring." That'd be weird, seeing the girls before they retired. Still a hell of a lot better then just letting them go. And the monitoring included a psychological screen too.

"Hm. Wisdom Cube technology has improved." Kaga smiled. "Perhaps you should do something for her when she gets out. Maybe that cookout you discussed."

Indy perked up. "Mm."

Cassin sipped her cola. Kaga had to be reminiscing about Amagi. Those girls knew about cube damage. Still this was a little more expressive than the fox usually was.

"Hrm." Mni finished her beer and grabbed another. "There any plans for a memorial service?"

"The plan was to wait until everyone was out of the hospital first," Cassin said. "But well, that's a ways off now."

Everyone looked grim at that. She didn't want to hurt the mood, but it was true. Finally Mni just shrugged. "Well I'll talk with my sisters to set up something for just us."

Cassin leaned back in her chair. She kinda wanted to set something up for her fellow b listers, but most of them were in hospital. "I wonder what's next," she muttered. They'd gotten torn up twice in less than a month. What were these new Sirens?

Tirpitz stirred and looked over at Kaga. "That's a good question. Did Shiranui learn anything?"

Kaga nodded. "We're not sure if they're actually Sirens. They don't seem to working with the others at least. Past that they're still looking for an origin point."

"Be nice if the Sirens fought each other instead of us," Victorious said. "I suppose we aren't that lucky."

"Maybe we should drag them to a mirror sea and see if we can start something," Mni said.

"I'm hoping we can just take a break for a while," Cassin said.

Everyone nodded at that.

* * *

The stars were bright above the harbor. It was beautiful. It was too bad the setting was such a tragedy.

"You didn't have to join me, Victorious," Tirpitz said. "I'm fine taking the blame."

"And I'm fine sharing it," Victorious said. "We all are." She grinned at Tirpitz. "Besides battleships are a bad choice for patrols. The night watch needed another carrier."

Tirpitz snorted, but she seemed amused. "I guess I should expect Kaga tomorrow now that she's done sorting gear?"

"Yep!" Victorious nodded. "We'll be alternating." Kaga had been strangely insistent on that as well. She'd expected the fox girl to be more possessive, but even with the occasional flashes of emotion Kaga didn't seem to be very jealous.

"I see." Tirpitz leaned back and stared into the sky. "I suppose I should thank you."

Victorious looked over at the battleship. She looked relaxed, but she always did. Even before Victorious had a hard time seeing past Tirpitz's ice queen exterior. And now that the woman beside her had changed, it was even more difficult.

But everything within Victorious told her something was terribly wrong with her friend. And this time she couldn't let it just pass.

"Aren't you angry?" she asked. "Having victory stolen from you after all those years without it? At having our allies lie about your accomplishments?"

Tirpitz closed her eyes. "I'm not sure I feel anything at all."

"That's not true!" Victorious grabbed Tirpitz's shoulder, forcing the battleship to look at her. "You can try to freeze away your emotions, but I can see them! I saw your resignation at being killed when we met in our previous lives. I saw your eagerness in battle. I saw your pride as you moved to help our fleet." She stared in Tirpitz's eyes, searching for something. Some hint of what the woman was feeling. "So why are you hiding your feelings now?"

She froze as Tirpitz moved up and put a hand to her cheek. "Why do you always smile, even though you're so sad?"

Victorious hadn't known how much words could hurt. The stabbing pain in her chest was as bad as any wound she'd received. She felt her smile trembling, but she wouldn't give in. "I'm the goddess of victory. If I can't smile who can?"

Tirpitz nodded slowly. "I know. Your smile, your brutal kindness, lifted my spirits back then. Even though thought we were enemies. But even a goddess deserves a break." Victorious shivered in the cold night air as Tirpitz smiled. "It's just us here my goddess. I promise to keep your secret."

Tears burst forth and Victorious buried her face in Tirpitz's shoulder. "You idiot," she sniffled. This was supposed to be her comforting Tirpitz! Not the other way around.

But it hurt. This wasn't her Tirpitz, but it was. This wasn't her fleet, but it was. And they'd won the most painful victory she'd ever suffered through. Nothing was right. She'd lost so many friends and family, but never like this.

"I'm sorry," Tirpitz said embracing her. It was so unfair.

She let herself cry, until her eyes were dry and sore, and Tirpitz's capelet was messy with her tears and snot. Finally she sighed and pulled away, looking up at Tirpitz. The battleship's expression was neutral again. Of course. "You know you were supposed to say something romantic there. Not just go back to your clueless state."

Tirpitz shrugged. "I am the Lonely Queen of the North. Not by choice, but because that's who I am."

Victorious poked the battleship's ribs. "You're a bigger liar than I am. And you're just trying to avoid choosing between Kaga and me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tirpitz said looking away.

"You won't be able to escape forever," Victorious said. She'd work with Kaga to see to that! She stepped back. "But today... I'll just say thank you."

"You're welcome," Tirpitz said.

They both turned back to the dark ocean. Searching for enemies they hoped not to find.

* * *

Mni sat on the breakwater with a six pack. Quincy and Astoria had been here, said their piece, and left their pain and tears behind. But Mni was still stuck here. She'd gathered with her surviving sisters looking for closure, but it wasn't coming.

It was weird too. She'd lost all three of them at Savo Island. Killed by people she now called allies, in a brutally one sided engagement. Vincennes had fought a whole damn fleet this time. Battled to the bitter end. And yet somehow it seemed more wrong to Mni. Like this shit wasn't supposed to happen anymore.

She finished the bottle and put it back in the pack before grabbing another. Didn't want to leave any behind when she could recycle them.

Light footsteps caused her to look up. To her surprise Z46 was there. The Ironblood destroyer walked to her side and bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Mni blinked. "The hell for?"

"I was there," Z46 said. "But I couldn't protect her. I failed to accomplish anything. Again."

Mni looked over the girl again. She was much younger then Tirpitz, but that 'I am just a failed ship' look was damn familiar. Mni sighed and handed the destroyer one of her beers. "It's not your fault, kid."

Z46 looked at the bottle. "Isn't this illegal on base?"

"Yeah, but Shiranui smuggles in a lot for the humans. They won't notice if a few crates go missing." Mni sipped her own bottle.

The destroyer glanced at her quizzically, then shrugged and took a sip. She frowned, but just sat down and continued nursing the bottle. "To fight and defend your allies, to kill those who kill your friends. Isn't this proof of existence? I did neither."

"Didn't fight? The hell are you talking about?" Mni snorted. "You shot off all your ammo fighting girls twice your size. You're a destroyer. You were made to sink torpedo boats before they got a lucky hit in on a battleship, not fight toe to toe with heavy cruisers."

Z46 looked down at the ground. "It wasn't enough."

"No. It wasn't." Mni took a deep drink of the bitter brew. "And our counterattack wasn't enough. Vincennes' determined defense wasn't enough. That's battle. Sometimes nothing is enough."

Mni looked over at the destroyer. "At Coral Sea I did my damndest to protect Lexington, and I'm sure the Sakura Empire did their best to defend Shoho. Didn't matter. Pissed me off, but all you can do is go to the next battle."

"I see." Z46 folded her arms on her knees. "The next battle. A strange thought for someone who just had their first battle. And against a foe we don't even know."

The thought struck Mni. That was it. That was the problem. She didn't have a goal. She didn't have anything she could offer her fallen sister. She'd shed blood, but that was it.

What she needed to do was find the problem and kill the shit out of it. She needed a war that could be won. It wasn't here yet. But it would be soon.

"Guess we're gonna have to keep our ears to the ground and be ready to act when the high ups figure out what's going on," Mni said. "I'll be looking forwards to your support, kid."

"Of course." Z46 looked up at her. "But please, could you not call me kid?"

"Eh?" Mni blinked. "What's wrong with that? Thought it'd be better than just calling you forty six or viersechs or whatever."

Z46 nodded. "I thank you for your concern. But I don't want 'kid' to become my name. A name should have more meaning then that."

"Hm, a name's meaning?" Mni stood. "Always thought of a name as just whatever someone else gave you. But then again I tried to learn some Dakota because of my name so I guess I kinda get it." She offered Z46 a hand up.

The destroyer accepted. "Thank you." She finished the bottle and handed it to Mni. "I know my desire for a name is perhaps childish. But I want that proof of my existence. Something given to me by someone who wants me in this world."

"Good luck," Mni said. Probably be a different commander who'd earn that honor. A thought struck her and she grinned. "Honestly though, this name thing might be a lucky. All us other girls get confused with our dopplegangers. You and your alternate selves will all wind up with different names."

"Is that so?" Z46 blinked, then smiled as well. "I hope I find a name of my own soon then."

Mni patted the girl's head. "I'm sure you'll earn it when you do."


	9. Chapter 9

It was a good day for a barbeque Indy thought. Warm sunlight and crisp wind. Somehow Mni had bribed Shiranui into giving them a set of steaks and ribs. She'd created a good sauce for the meat and the grill was running nicely. Everything was going well. Now they just needed the guest of honor.

Mni was staring at her cola like it had personally offended her. "To bad we can't have the good stuff in public." She looked up. "So when's Portland arriving?"

"Hammann's bringing her as soon as she finishes with her psych eval," Cassin said. "Should be a couple of minutes."

"Wasn't it supposed to be over an hour ago?" Oklahoma said.

Graf Zeppelin sniffed. "They work very hard to pretend they care about us. Navy regulations or some nonsense."

Indy shook her head at the carrier's whining. The mental health people probably did care to some degree. Indy thought the one that had talked to her was nice enough.

"I imagine they're better with war wounds then our issues as shipgirls," Tirpitz said, echoing Indy's thoughts. "Much more practice."

Commanders on the other hand... commanders might not give a damn. And that was much more impactful.

She shunted those thoughts aside as the others chattered a bit more. The charcoal was getting to a good cooking temperature. Hopefully they were done soon, so she didn't have to add more fuel.

Victorious smiled and brought her scout plane down. "They're out and heading down the path. Portland's walking just fine, so she should be here soon."

Indy nodded and started putting the meats on and basting them. She turned to Mni as she finished the first set. "If Portland doesn't let me go within three minutes I'll need you to take over."

"I'll do my best," Mni replied.

A few seconds later Portland walked around the corner and froze. "Congratulations on getting out of the hospital!" they all said.

Portland blinked away tears before leaping past the closer wellwishers. "Indyyyyyyy~3!" she cried out as her arms latched on. And just like that Indy was stuck in her sister's cleavage.

Well it was expected. And today she'd let her sister be a little clingy. She did her best to hug Portland back while getting enough space to breathe. It took some effort, but she eventually succeeded.

Even more surprisingly Portland relaxed her hug a little to turn to all of their friends. "Thank you all too for being here for me. You're all great."

"As great as Indianapolis?" Kaga asked with a smirk.

"Sixty percent as great!" Portland replied. "Hammann gets eighty percent."

"High praise," Tirpitz replied.

Portland gave Indy a final squeeze before stepping away. "Now Indy show your big sister your amazing cooking skills!"

"Right right." Indy did her best to sound normal, but she was smiling. "You want ribs right? Extra sauce."

"That's right! Ah Indy remembered my tastes perfectly." Portland wriggled in happiness.

The amount of sauce was an insult to the meat in Indy's opinion, but whatever made her sister happy. She turned back and tended the grill while her friends talked around her. It was nice to finally have a bright spot.

After a few minutes she poked the meat and nodded happily at the result. "It's ready." She started handing over portions. Soon everyone had been served and she was able to sit down with her sister, Mni and Hammann.

"This is really good!" Portland wiped away a mess of sauce. "You really are a great cook Indy. Your big sister is proud."

"It's all right," Hammann said with a twitch of her ears. "I'd like to know the recipe though."

Indy nodded. "Sure." The destroyer girl obviously liked it.

Mni looked up from the steak she was wolfing down. "Just be ready to fail a lot. It ain't as easy as just pouring all that stuff together. Indy's got the skills."

"Yep." Portland beamed. "My sister's just so talented and cute!" Indy just rolled her eyes.

Hammann grimaced and glared at Mni. "You probably just didn't follow the instructions."

"Hey now," Mni waved her coke at Hammann. "I can follow instructions perfectly well. There's just more to it then that."

Indy decided to intervene. "Mni can you get me another soda?" She made a slight motion towards Hammann.

Fortunately Mni hadn't been drinking and picked up on it immediately. "Ah right. Hammann come grab one for Portland too."

"Eh?" Hammann looked confused, but she eventually got up. "Fine."

As the two walked off, Portland folded her arms. "Hm, Indy's getting cunning. Is that a good thing? I mean it's kinda cute, but Indy should be pure and innocent..."

Indy ignored that. "Portland, you know Hammann has a crush on you. Right?" Even she could figure it out, Portland had to have noticed.

"Mmm." Portland's expression fell. "I know."

A bad sign. Portland should have replied with 'are you jealous?' or 'Indy's number one' or some other such nonsense. She looked into her sister's eyes. "So why aren't you going out with her?"

Portland fiddled with her fork. "You know we can't be together Indy. This is a battle fleet. I'm not battle ready. They're going to be sending me to another base, while Hammmann will stay here. I won't even get to see you."

"That's..." Indy winced. She wanted to say Portland could find something to do on base. That her sister could stay with all her friends. But even if they could pull that off, there was no way this commander would agree.

In the end all she could say was, "We'll find a way."

"Ah, Indy's so nice!" Portland sprung from her funk to latch on again.

"Your hands are still dirty, Portland!"

* * *

Kaga did her best to clean her hands. She was used to 'finger' food, but nothing slathered with grease and sauce like the other nations seemed to enjoy. It tasted good, but it left quite a mess. At least she'd been smart enough to ditch her jacket. She'd thrown on a t-shirt to escape staining her uniform. Tirpitz had done the same. Kaga had to admit the casual look suited the battleship, though almost everything did.

"Oh dear." Kaga looked to the other carrier. Victorious had kept to her usual outfit, and had just paid the price. Though the sauce that had dripped onto her had landed on her cleavage instead of her white dress. Victorious held up her dirty hands sheepishly. "Could you get me several napkins please Tirpitz?"

Now was a good time to strike actually. "Let me." Kaga walked up with a clean napkin and wiped the spill. She lingered just long enough for Victorious to begin to recover, then stepped back and smiled. "You might want to get a shirt for yourself so it doesn't happen again."

"Um, yes of course!" Victorious beat a hasty retreat as Kaga smirked.

Tirpitz blinked at her. "Isn't that a bit forwards, just to get her away for a bit?"

"It seems only fair. After all she holds my tails close every night." Kaga looked over. "Besides, she's attractive."

Kaga could sense the wheels turning in Tirpitz's mind, but the battleship didn't show it. Instead her friend simply replied, "So what did you want to speak to me about?"

She walked to Tirpitz's side and leaned against the other woman. "What do you think?"

"I think you're acting a lot like your younger self for some reason," Tirpitz said. She was obviously changing the subject. About what Kaga expected.

Still it deserved an answer. "I was reminded of the many mistakes I made. And I decided I wasn't going to make them again." She sipped her cola. "Besides if I leave you to your own devices Victorious will end up bombing you to get through your shell. She's too proper. She expects you to take the lead."

"Why?" Tirpitz's mask slipped, and Kaga saw the battleship's confusion. "Why are you two interested in me? I'm not a mystery. I'm just empty inside."

"You're not empty. You're just broken differently than we are. And you're not the first person to hide away emotions to escape despair. Victorious and I both see that." She grinned. "And we both see you reacting to our flirting so we know you're not as frigid as you tell yourself."

Kaga eased up a bit. "I know you might not be ready yet. But when you are, I intend to be first."

Tirpitz shook her head. "Why do you think I'm worthy of being loved?"

"Worthy doesn't enter into it." Kaga closed her eyes. "And if it did, you're not the one who should be asking that question. Leave that to people with real sins."

"What's with you two?" She opened her eyes to see Victorious giving them both a suspicious look. Focusing mostly on her of course. The carrier had grabbed a tshirt that was obviously bought with little concern for size.

Kaga let her smirk return. "I'm making my interest known. But don't worry. Unlike my sister I'm not the jealous type."

"Wha-" Victorious' jaw dropped. The carrier looked over at Tirpitz who just shook her head in defeat. "It's not like-"

"You mutter her name in your sleep while you squeeze my tails," Kaga said.

Victorious blushed, while Tirpitz pretended to be very interested in a cloud. "That's-" The other carrier recovered fast though. "Well then, should I tell her all about what you say in your sleep?"

Kaga's eyes narrowed. "I don't talk in my sleep."

"Did Amagi tell you that? Because she's lying," Victorious grinned. "Though I suppose a lot of what comes out aren't words per se..."

Tirpitz gaze fell on her, and she had the sinking suspicion that the tables were about the be turned on her. "That is very curious Victorious. Please elaborate."

"I didn't think the royal navy would resort to lies," Kaga muttered.

"I didn't think that you could croon so sweetly, but here we are," Victorious replied.

This was going to be a messy fight.

* * *

Cassin looked down at her pager. "The heck?" That was meant for emergencies, but the general alarm hadn't sounded. Weird.

She read the text to see what was up. "Head to the mess tent." Wasn't that helpful. Time to gather advanced info.

"Meet you there," she said to Mni and Indy before running towards the store. It was a long shot, but Shiranui might know something. Unlike Akashi, the creepy destroyer girl kept her ear to the ground for things other than dresses.

The warehouse was still unlocked when she arrived. She opened the door and slipped in. Sure enough Shiranui was looking over something on her laptop. "Yo."

The other destroyer snapped her laptop shut. Her cold eyes moved over. "What are you doing here Cassin? We've been called to a briefing."

"I wanted more info." Cassin folded her arms. "And I know you've got the good bits. Just tell me how much it costs."

Shiranui hesitated. That was weird. Normally she'd be doing her evil laugh and haggling. What kind of intel would cause Shiranui to act like that?

Finally the other destroyer pulled out a thumb drive and handed it over. She looked Cassin straight in the eyes, the grudge flames around her flaring. "Just holding this information is treason. Don't show anyone it unless you need to. And if you're smart, you'll throw it away after this mission."

Cassin looked at the device. What could possibly be so tightly controlled? "Why are you just handing me this then?"

"Because you need to know to properly plan." Shiranui shut down her laptop and flicked off the lights. "Now let's get to the meeting before they notice we're late."

* * *

Mni looked at the ocean map being displayed. She knew a lot of those atols, from both the war and her study of history. The Sirens liked those old battlefields, but the circled islands had mostly been skipped over. One of the reasons that they'd been used for bases during the early days of shipgirl fleet actions.

The commander pointed at one area in red. "We've determined the Sirens that attacked up are coming from this area here, near Kosrae island. The base there was abandoned after the death of Admiral Heidler Earstmann, and the end of single fleet operations. There's also signs of ships reforming here. We're going to sortie to the area in force, and determine the origin of these new Sirens. Then destroy them."

Mni looked around the room. Hopefully the enemy was in worse shape then they were, because the fleet was seriously hurting. The commander might think less of reserve units, but they were required for large fleet actions.

"We will be deploying to the Senyavin islands." Admiral Nagumo pointed at a moderate sized base. "A Vestal and several supply ships have already been sent to retrofit the local base for our use."

He pointed at another small island chain. "We'll be using Roi-Namur as a transfer base. My old facilities should be capable of transferring everything we need. Our reserve fleet will guard the area against Sirens striking at our supply route."

Mni looked at the small island. Better than a boring atol where they'd be at the mercy of high tide. In fact it might be a little large for the surviving ships. They'd have to figure out some way of keeping watch over a base built for a full fleet with only twenty or so girls. Might be fun hunting grounds at least.

"Finally, I personally will be joining the main fleet."

Mni looked up. "The hell?" The sentiment was echoed throughout the room. Sure it was easier to command in person, but sending a fleet Admiral out onto the water was dangerous. If a mirror sea opened up on them they'd be doomed. Even in fast command boats a random Peacebreaker could easily snipe a production line model.

The man smiled grimly. "We may need to make hard decisions fast. I'm willing to take the extra risk to get this matter settled." Well Mni couldn't complain about that. The Admiral shut off the screen. "Prep your travel bags and mark essential gear. We'll be moving out in two days."


	10. Chapter 10

Tirpitz looked around the island. It was sweltering hot, and most of the place was beach sand and coral rock. The base however was almost as big as their home, and there were small jungle clumps around the buildings. It seemed great, until she realized the utter nightmare it would be to defend.

Well that was a problem for later. Right now they had to set up the base itself. While the others were unloading cargo, Tirpitz had sent her friends to the important facilities. Now they were gathering to take stock of the situation. "How is the runway?"

"Intact," Kaga said. "It will need a lot of work to be able to accept anything bigger than small planes. But it can do in a pinch. We aren't totally dependent on sea supply."

"Acceptable." Tirpitz looked to Victorious. "How about the docks?"

"Pretty good." Victorious smiled. "It's all older gear, but that has some advantages. It isn't as dependent on electricity, and it's more intuitive. Since we won't have Akashi or Vestal to help us, that'll be for the best."

Tirpitz nodded. "Good. Unfortunately the radio office is a mess. We're going to be totally reliant on our own communication and the satellite uplink." She was not happy about that. A single point of failure for communications was dangerous.

"The canteen is disgusting," Graf Zeppelin groused. "We should just burn it and set up a tent. The oil stores are just a little rusty. But I think we should just beach the tanker for safety." Indy nodded in agreement.

Cassin yawned. "Dorms are better. Need some dusting, and we'll have to take the boards off the windows. But otherwise it's good."

"And the secondary generators are all in working order." Mni grinned. "I bet we can even get air conditioning running with the spares we brought."

Well wasn't that a wonderful thought. Tirpitz looked at Z46. "What about the port defenses?"

"Rusted," she replied. "They had surveillance cameras though. We might be able to replace them."

Everyone perked up at that. Actually defending the island with their numbers was the biggest issue. Getting visual data in addition to radar would make the job a lot easier. Tirpitz made a note to thank Shiranui when they got back for giving them cameras.

"We should probably focus on setting those up and cleaning up the dorms," Tirpitz said. "Just because it's our first day doesn't mean Sirens won't attack." She looked around the group. "Any other ideas?"

Kaga stepped forwards. "Standard sleeping arrangements in combat areas were three to a room. Given our lack of numbers, we should probably stick to it."

Tirpitz looked at Victorious. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Oh, I remember Enterprise telling me about it actually," Victorious said. "Protects against destroyer or submarine ambush. We never used it because we were always fighting from our own harbors."

Tirpitz remembered having been shot resting at port herself. "We probably should have. Though there weren't any other ships at my port." She nodded. "Three to a room then. I'm curious though. Doesn't it leave us open to air attack?"

Kaga shrugged. "If you're being ambushed by bombers you've already lost. At least this way we can combine our anti air fire."

"Very well. Let's tell the others and plan our watch list." Tirpitz turned back to the port. It was going to be a long day. Hopefully they could get some rest afterwards.

* * *

Mni bolted upright as the alarm claxon ripped her out of her sleep. She damn near tripped over Cassin as she ran to grab her main rigging. Fortunately her gear was designed for easy installation. She locked the arm mounts in, and loaded in her ammo.

Cassin had staggered awake and was helping Indy attach her arm gear. Once that was done Indy could finish off herself. Mni decided that was good enough for now.

She burst out the door into the hallway and had to quickly sidestep a half naked Kaga. The carrier was blurry eyed but prepping her planes. "Sitrep?" Behind her Victorious was attaching Tirpitz's guns.

"On it," Mni said dashing towards the main hall.

She reached the entryway just as the loudspeaker squawked to life. It was Ranger. "Several small Siren suicide craft are approaching the base. In addition there's a shipgirl present! They're heading for the supply boats. Please move to intercept!"

Mni grimaced and waited for Indy and Cassin to catch up. If it was ships instead of aircraft she'd need all her guns working. It didn't take long. Indy dashed over and used her mechanical arms to click the gear right into Mni's back. Seconds later Cassin skidded in, her own gear all ready. "Alright, let's sortie."

They ran towards the harbor. Gunfire had already started up. Rapid fire from planes, and the slow boom of battleship fire. But that wouldn't stave off fast moving attack boats.

She cursed as an explosion tore open one of the cargo ships. Her side was hurting from pushing so hard, but she forced herself through the pain.

Reaching the water was a relief. Her rigging took over, boosting her speed up to 30 knots and pushing her into the inner waters of the atoll. She saw three boats bearing down on another cargo ship and unloaded at the lead. It exploded easily, the shockwave setting the other two off course.

As the drone ships corrected course Indy and Cassin's gunfire rang out. The further one was obliterated. The closer self destructed as Cassin's fire tore out its engine.

Mni looked around for new prey. "Where's the main force?" The island and atoll blocked access to the port outside three channels. But the atoll was big enough that a force could mass out of sight in it.

Ranger's voice came over the radio. "Enemy craft are approaching from all entrances. The shipgirl is inside the atoll's waters, along with a combat air patrol. It's... a Purifier!"

That wasn't good. Purifiers were rare, and had powerful laser attacks. Hopefully their carriers could chew through the combat air patrol and deal some damage before they'd have to engage it head on.

"This is Tirpitz, I'm assuming command." Mni perked up. Tirpitz's plans had been good so far. "Carrier aircraft attack the Purifier. A group, block the Eastern entrance. B group the Western. C group, guard the central waters. Advance on the Purifier at Indianapolis' discretion."

"Huh?" Mni looked at her friend who seemed just as confused.

Indy shook her head. "I'm the captain?" Still her friend moved forwards. "Mni, kill anything that looks like it might get past. Cassin, close off routes with torpedoes."

A simple plan, but Mni liked it. She let Indy and Cassin move up while rolling her shoulders. This was less a battle and more shooting skeet. But the stakes were much higher.

The roar of engines signalled the arrival of the next wave. Indy opened up at long range. Mni wanted to get in some kills, but she had a mission. She waited for Cassin to set off a spread of torpedoes to the left, before targeting the enemies on the right.

She aimed at the furthest first, letting her big guns blow it to little bits. The rush of the kill flowed through her and she let her smaller guns tear into the closest target. It succumbed to the shots just as she reloaded her main guns and took out the last boat.

The next three minutes was a repeat of the attack. Mni grinned wider and wider as they cut a swath through the smaller boats. Not a single one survived her wrath.

Indy's voice cut through her happy spree. "They're splitting up. Larger force is to the West."

That was a problem. "Maybe I can handle the smaller group?" she asked. She had the most killing power.

"No need." Tirpitz said. "Oklahoma and I will engage the east. Destroy the western ships and then move to the Purifier."

"Roger." Indy began steaming towards the big group. Mni quickly moved to her friend's side, while Cassin pulled ahead.

They hit the formation at an angle. Cassin led off with a chaotic torpedo spread, and then Mni started shooting. The waters lit up with explosion after explosion. The enemies here were tight packed enough that destroying one would often set off the others. It was beautiful.

Sadly the fun couldn't last. With a flash the last boat sank. Mni looked around. "Where's that Purifier?"

A flash of light seared across the water, slamming into a cargo ship. "There," Cassin replied.

Mni started to rush forwards but Indy held up a hand. "Stay behind me." The woman's eye was glowing.

They approached quickly if cautiously. One more laser lanced out, smashing the same ship as before, and illuminating the Siren. Unlike the shipgirls they'd faced before, this one was a strange mix of organic and machine. Mni saw some damage from bombs and torpedoes, but Purifier was still smiling.

"Yo!" The Siren waved at them. "How's it going?"

"Tired," Indy replied. "You woke us up."

Purifier laughed. "Well it's your own fault. I had to help you clueless girls out."

"It's your fault we're out here," Mni snapped. She lined up a shot but Indy held up her hand again. What was her friend waiting for?

"Now now now." Purifier waved her finger. "This is all your fault. We Sirens didn't do anything to your timeline. In fact Observer-chan was going to have me blow the whole place up until the interesting stuff started happening."

Cassin started inching to the side, and Mni realized what Indy's plan was. Cunning. She decided to keep up the chatter. "So you're claiming you didn't bomb our base and kill a bunch of our friends?'

"No Sirens attacked your base," Purifier said smugly. "Well your old base. I totally attacked your base but for good reasons!"

"Thanks for the info," Indy said politely. "Cassin you can shoot her now."

Purifier blinked as Cassin unleashed a torpedo spread. "Whoa! Hey that's mean! And come on I can totally dodge those. Threading one torpedo barrage? What are you thinking?"

Mni let her eyes drift over and smirked as she saw the fish coming in from the side. "She was thinking Tirpitz has torpedoes too. Enjoy being anviled."

"EH?!" Purifier looked over, just in time to see her doom approaching. She tried to weave the double spread, but Tirpitz's torpedoes were magnetic. Four massive explosions turned Purifier into bits of strange black metal sinking into the ocean.

"You'd think they'd degauss their ships," Mni mused.

Tirpitz sailed into view and gave them a nod. "Good work. All enemies cleared."

"Still, why did she say Sirens didn't attack our base?" Victorious asked over the comm.

"She's a lying bitch?" Mni suggested. "I mean she was blowing up our supplies."

Cassin grimaced. "Which boats did we lose?"

"The food transport and the shore battery gear," Z46 said over the comm.

"Damn." Both Cassin and Indy paled. "We've got a problem."

Mni looked back and forth between the two. "What is it?"

"Something no one's gonna be happy about."

* * *

Cassin looked over her friends as Indy carefully removed the seals from the box. "Just so you know, what we're doing is technically mutiny. The only reason we can do it at all is because we didn't officially get orders telling us not to."

Her friends looked more tired than hesitant, but whatever. She knew them well enough to realize it wouldn't change their minds. Instead she turned back to the box. "Shiranui told me about it. There were two purposefully mislabeled boxes. One is sticking with us, the other went with the main fleet."

Indy finished opening the box and everyone gasped at the warning signs on the ordinance revealed. To be fair Cassin had reacted the same way. The nuclear symbol was striking. "10 megaton warhead. If all else fails they plan to nuke the Siren formation area. This was in with the food stores."

"Gott in Himmel," Tirpitz said.

Kaga hugged herself. "That horrible thing... Is it really needed?"

"I disabled it," Indy said. "I'll fix it when we leave but I didn't like it being armed around me."

"Yeah thanks Indy," Mni said. She shook her head. "Still how does that tie into the whole 'no Sirens' nonsense?"

"No idea," Cassin admitted. "But she was targeting this. She'd have destroyed the thing if we hadn't moved it out."

Everyone mulled over that. "Maybe we should have let her," Victorious said.

Indy shook her head. "Dirty bomb. We'd be radioactive for years."

Cassin shivered. Years of being stuck in solitary containment while they waited for the radiation to clear off. No thanks.

Anyway time to get back to immediate issues. "So she didn't want us nuking the place. For whatever reason. And she knows the boss' plan somehow."

Tirpitz nodded. "We'll have to assume we've been compromised then. They'll be able to tell from the lack of radiation they failed, so we might get follow up attacks."

"How are we gonna report this to the admiral?" Cassin asked.

"Just say the cargo boats had been partially unloaded." Tirpitz said. "It's the truth, and it will avoid unneeded questions." She sighed. "Of course we'll also have to give the actual damage report. How bad is it?"

Victorious shook her head. "We lost a lot of munitions, and a chunk of our food supply. We still have a week's worth of food, but with the ammo we expended last night, I don't think we have enough for more than a single engagement. I'll ask for more. I think that's it though."

Cassin yawned. "Well that's everything. I'm gonna go back to sleep."

"You can sleep after all this?" Mni muttered.

"Gotta be rested. Sleep is important." Never know when the next submarine might show up.

"She's right." Tirpitz helped Indy put the lid back on the box. "Rest up. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow, and it'll be morning sooner then we'd like."


	11. Chapter 11

_Terminology Note : gekokujo - "Those rising from below," was a very big part of the Imperial Japanese system. Underlings consistently ignored orders/killed reluctant superiors and were rewarded for doing so if they succeeded in battle. It's why the country was so fucked up, and I felt the whole messy concept was important enough to Kaga's thought process to leave untranslated_

* * *

Indy took a deep breath before diving down under the water. She followed the pier down to the rocky bottom, then quickly reached out and grabbed her prey. The crab latched on with one pincher, but she had her rigging on. It just made it easier to throw the crustacean into a sack.

With a quick push she shot back up to the surface. She tossed the sack up to where Z46 was standing. "Another one."

The destroyer looked at it and nodded. "Edible." She tossed it in a cooler. "That's twelve."

"Think that will be enough?" Indy asked. Some of the crabs had been a little on the small side she thought.

"Mni's caught a bunch of fish," Z46 said gesturing to where the heavy cruiser was spearfishing. "Any more and some might spoil."

Indy pulled herself onto the pier. "Did she check to make sure the fish aren't poisonous?" Mni was a genius at hunting, but her fishing skills focused mainly on the catch, not the specific fish being caught.

"No but she's caught two coolers full," Z46 said. "As long as she didn't catch any pufferfish it should be fine."

Indy nodded and walked over to her friend. "Hey."

"Yo!" Mni smiled sheepishly. "I got a lot of fish and a lot of bait. Figure Kaga can tell me which is which."

"I'll do most of it," Indy said. "Now let's get to the kitchen." She picked up the two coolers with her iron arms.

"Sure thing." Mni grabbed the crab bag from Z46. "I'll help where I can."

Indy carried the catch to the warehouse they'd converted to a kitchen. It had been easier to clean out then the actual mess hall. It was just a couple of fridges and a cooking counter, but that would do. "Could you start up a pot of water?" she asked Mni, as she began searching through for the best fish.

There were a lot of weird catches in Mni's coolers. But there were enough fish she recognized to make a good meal. "I think we can have a seafood platter," she said. A mix of steamed, sushi, and crab dishes should do. She looked at Z46. "Did we get any more food supplies?"

Z46 shook her head. "Just what we salvaged from the wild plants. They delivered a lot of rice with the ammo drops, but nothing else."

Indy grimaced. If this kept up she'd have to start flavoring things with crude oil. Oh well. You worked with what you had, not what you wanted. At least she had spices. And there were plenty of plantains from the jungle. She grabbed what she could and began to devise a menu.

"They give any reasons why they aren't shipping us food other than rice?" Mni muttered.

"No," Z46 said. "The pilots don't know anything."

"Nothing we can do," Indy replied. "Mni can you boil and shuck the crabs? I'll cook the meat after."

Mni grabbed some tongs. "Sure thing."

Indy worked gutting and preparing the fish, while Mni shucked the crabs one by one. Mni was a messy cook, but she was an expert at getting every speck of flesh off a carcass. In fact there might have been more meat then Indy assumed.

As Indy set the timers for the fish steaming, she started collecting the crab Mni had prepped. What spices would be good here?

Mni sat down and leaned back as Indy took over. "So, any word from the main fleet?"

"They've been hunting down the carriers that escaped. They've found three so far," Z46 said. "No real sorties past that. I think Admiral Nagumo is taking his time."

"Why?" Mni groused. "They want to throw around nukes. What's the point of faffing about?"

Indy scooped the onions she'd diced into a pot. "Make sure they're all dead?"

"Maybe." Mni sighed. "Anyway, that doesn't matter to us. How's dinner coming Indy?"

She put the lip on the pot and turned down the heat so it could simmer. "Prep is done. We can eat in an hour."

"Right, I'll tell everyone," Mni rushed out of the building. The other cruiser was always moving. Well Indy understood the feeling. The Siren attack had them all on edge, so they couldn't enjoy the island atmosphere. No reason to intervene though. Caution was probably good.

She just hoped no one attacked during dinner. She'd spent a lot of effort on this.

* * *

Kaga sipped her tea. "Impressive work Indy. I barely noticed we haven't gotten supply shipments in."

The heavy cruiser nodded, but her expression wasn't happy. "I hope we get a shipment soon."

"Same, but it's obviously a deliberate move. I think I'm being punished," Tirpitz said. "I'm sorry for involving the rest of you."

"Don't apologize," Victorious said. "You were right! Besides it's unseemly to be so petty. A commander should speak their mind openly!"

Kaga nodded. "It's too bad we're prevented from acting against direct orders. Otherwise we could perform a proper _ gekokujo _and replace him."

To her surprise Tirpitz lowered her hat as if to conceal something. She wanted to press the matter, but the three Eagle Union ships were giving her stern looks. Cassin was the one to say it though. "Didn't the last time you took control from your bosses screw up everything?"

"I made mistakes," Kaga admitted. "But I feel taking over was not one of them. A leader must lead. The issue was the path I took."

Mni raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, forgive me but I don't buy it. Coups are bad."

"Frequently," Tirpitz said. "But in some cases, perhaps they are a necessary evil." The battleship was staring at her cup.

"I feel I must disagree," Victorious said, before smirking at the Eagle Union ships. "Though I feel my beloved colony ships might be a little hypocritical. What's that about revolution being wrong?"

Kaga and Tirpitz chuckled as Mni sputtered in protest. Cassin and Indy just accepted the point.

Still, even after Victorious' comment. Tirpitz looked pensive. Something was odd Kaga mused. Something from the battleship's past? But Tirpitz had always served loyally. For the small amount of time she'd managed to serve.

Not like Kaga. Or Akagi.

The memory of her sister settled over the meal she'd just finished. What had they been thinking? Had she looked after Akagi, like Amagi had begged her? Or had her idiocy damaged her older sister beyond repair?

Foolish to try to answer those questions based on a single version of her sister. Or for that matter a single version of herself. But she couldn't help thinking about it.

She drained her tea and stood. "I'm going to take a walk to clear my head."

Tirpitz looked up. "Want company?" The battleship obviously recognized her dark mood.

But this was something she wanted to think about on her own. "It's fine. I'll return in a bit."

She walked out of the building they were using as a mess tent and took a deep breath of the night air. The smell of the sea was all around her. A pleasant feeling. As nice as a continental port was, there was something about these small atolls that put shipgirls at ease. As close as you could get to sleeping on a bed and being at sea at the same time.

They'd spent a lot of time at sea, running about to finish the war they'd started. But thinking about it, she hadn't enjoyed those trips. They were a necessity. Fighting to accomplish their goal.

Except it hadn't been a necessity. And all they'd succeeded at was dying at Midway, leaving the fifth carrier group to fight the rest of the war. A waste.

The jungle ahead had a few paths cleared out to gather plantains, so Kaga followed them. The lush plants struggling against each other for every scrap of land on the island quickly surrounded her, blocking out the lights of the base. She pulled out one of her drone planes to use it as a light, when a flash from between the plants caught her eye.

Carefully she crept forwards, hands outstretched in the dark. Rough palm fronds pressed against her fingers, and she pulled them apart. The light appeared again as she moved the brush. Someone was here in the jungle.

Kaga took a step back, letting the palm fronds snap back into place. She was fairly certain all the other ships were back at base. But why would an enemy be on land instead of in the water? She decided to investigate further. One of her planes gently glided back to the base. If something went wrong it should warn the others.

She carefully pulled out a red flashlight to try to conceal her movements and did her best to follow the path towards the intruder.

Every crunch of leaves or snap of a branch seemed like thunder as she tried to get closer. But somehow her quarry didn't notice her. Eventually she got close enough to see the light. They were in front of a two story bunker. It was hard to see, but it looked like a shipgirl.

"It should be here," the woman muttered. "I remember this place. How could I forget?" Kaga frowned as the woman pulled out a plane drone and threw it at the door. The wood shattered loudly, and Kaga closed her eyes from the flash.

Now she was certain this wasn't one of them. They only had three carriers on base, and Victorious and Graf Zeppelin were both back at the canteen. With a bit of focus she had her plane fly down and signal the others to head this way.

Still Kaga wanted to know what the woman was looking for. She waited until they'd entered the building then moved to peer through the door.

The inside looked empty. No windows or furniture. And in the center was one of the new Sirens. Now that Kaga was closer she could see kelp strands in the bleached hair, and the woman's robe had barnacles sticking to it. Still something seemed strangely familiar to her. The woman paced forwards, shining her light about. "Where is it. It must be here. The walls? No..."

Perhaps this was a chance to get some information. Tirpitz and the others would be arriving soon. She stepped back and revved up her short takeoff dive bombers before stepping into the open door. "You know this is a restricted area."

The woman paused. "Kaga? Is that you?"

Kaga froze as the woman turned. She hadn't noticed before, but here in the half light the resemblance was obvious. "Akagi?"

"You know I have a hard time hearing, since I lost my ears." The other shipgirl turned back to the room. "Do you remember how we got further in? I think I was drugged at the time."

This wasn't possible. It couldn't be. That broken woman? Akagi? But all of Kaga's senses told her this was her sister. Or one of them.

Mni burst into the small clearing outside, followed swiftly by the others. The cruiser girl skidded to a halt, then pointed all her guns at Akagi. "Nice work. Now let's-"

Kaga held up her hand. "Wait!"

The others paused while Akagi turned around, revealing her shattered face. Victorious pulled out her bombers. "She's one of them. The Sirens that killed our friends! Why-"

"She's an Akagi!" Kaga snapped.

Saying the words banished the last doubts from her mind. The others froze, just as she did. Confusion pouring through them.

Akagi on the other hand smiled that twisted smile of hers. All the more terrifying with her shadowed face and eye of blue fire. "Ah, what noisy annoyances. Maybe I should remove them so they don't interfere?"

"Calm down Akagi," Kaga said. "They're on our side."

"Ah that's right. Sometimes I forget, Kaga." She turned around again. "Now help me find the entrance. They've hidden it somehow."

"Of course," Kaga lied. She stepped back to whisper to the others. "She's been searching for something here since I saw her."

Victorious was glaring daggers at the woman. "More importantly how is this possible? I suppose she looks somewhat like Akagi, and her mannerisms are the same. But she was part of that Siren group!"

"A wisdom cube mistake?" Tirpitz asked. "Well whatever the case this is a unique chance. We need to learn what we can about her."

Cassin shook her head. "Sure. Getting information out of a sane Akagi is just so easy. And how would she know about cubes? Even we don't know much about them."

"Maybe we can learn more if we help." Indy said. "Whatever she's looking for is important to her."

"There's nothing in there though." Kaga shook her head. "Just bare walls."

Mni nodded. "Inside matches the outside too. No hidden passages. Only weird bit is the discolored floor spot."

Everyone looked at her. Cassin folded her arms. "That's a pretty important 'weird bit.'"

"Who'd put a basement on an atoll!?" Mni protested.

"Someone with something to hide," Tirpitz said. She stood up. "Let's see what this Akagi is searching for. Kaga if you'd do the honors?"

Kaga walked inside. Now that she knew what to look for the differences in the two cement areas were obvious. She walked over to where Akagi was muttering to herself and pointed at the spot. "Perhaps there?"

"Ah!" Akagi smiled. "Thank you sister. Now let's open it." Akagi pulled out three planes and threw them before Kaga could say a thing.

"What the hell!" Mni sputtered as they all shielded themselves from the concrete splinters and dust. Kaga hoped whatever Akagi was looking for hadn't been destroyed.

Fortunately it seemed that her sister's casual use of explosives hadn't ruined everything. There was a hole that obviously had once contained a trap door, before the concrete and Akagi's removal of it. Even more miraculously there was a ladder next to the rubble below that seemed to be intact. Meaning they could get back up.

Akagi laughed and immediately jumped in. Kaga cursed and followed her sister. She wanted to make sure the other ship couldn't hide or damage anything before the others arrived.

She landed on the rubble with a grunt, then stepped forwards to let the others catch up. She looked up and froze, bile rising in her throat.

The wall in front of her was covered in trophies. Animal ears a size too large, bits of rigging, and even more horrid items all displayed for all to see. She heard a whimper from Victorious behind her, but her eyes were locked on her sister.

Akagi stepped forwards, smiling brightly eyes glittering. "At last I've found them." Her maimed sister carefully pulled down two cleanly severed fox ears and nine preserved tails. "Finally, I can be whole again."

Her stomach churned and she vomited on the floor. It was too much, even for her.

What the hell had happened here?


	12. Chapter 12

Victorious wasn't sure why her hands were so steady. She was quite sure she was a wreck. A total mess. Her body felt robotic, like one of her drone planes. But somehow it was the calm and collected Kaga who was trembling uncontrollably.

The others weren't much better. Tirpitz's fingers were restless. Indy and Mni were almost as pale as the rest of the ships. Cassin was jumping at sounds. Z46 was muttering to herself in German. And Graf Zeppelin was slowly breaking twigs into smaller bits, producing nothing.

Which left her to sew Akagi's ears and tails back on. At least the topical anesthetic was working. Or maybe the undead woman didn't feel pain. Her shattered face suggested that injuries didn't affect her much. Maybe the fox was always in pain.

At least the work was easy to focus on. Small stitches that wouldn't show much. In and out. Bit by bit. The ears were already on. The tails were a little more difficult because of the weight.

Tirpitz was the first to finally speak. "We finished burying all the bodies. We put the graves next to the runway so that wouldn't be forgotten."

There had been four there. Shipgirls chained inside the room. Left to die when that horrific place had been sealed up. Victorious forced herself to stare at the tail in front of her. To keep her mind from remembering their faces.

"Have we confirmed Admiral Nagumo was behind this?" Tirpitz asked quietly.

Indy nodded and swallowed. "There were video tapes in the room. He's in all of the ones we've seen."

"Don't watch them." Mni said, before downing half a bottle of beer. Apparently the woman had snuck some on the ships. Victorious couldn't blame her for drinking right now.

"I told you so," Akagi said. "Why did you forget Kaga? You of all people should know this."

Kaga crossed her arms tightly. "I'm not the same Kaga that was with you sister. I'm sorry."

"Ah, that explains why you have your limbs." Akagi hummed as everyone else flinched. "But I don't hate you as much as the other frontline ships. Like that thing putting on my tails. Why is that?"

"Because she was a replacement ship too," Cassin said quietly.

Victorious blinked. Of course. That was it. How horrid.

"You know something?" Graf Zeppelin asked. "Explain!"

"Think about it," Cassin muttered. "You use similar riggings to unlock a ship's potential. Most of you had your riggings used for that. But that leaves you with a bunch of shipgirls without gear. What do you do with them?"

Victorious nodded slowly. "The Eagle Union let them loose, while the Royal Navy sent them to dorms. You've read about those poor girls. High suicide rates and lots of fighting. The Royals developed the Bullin project to try to solve the issue, while the Eagle Union devised the system we use today.

"But what about the Sakura Empire and the Ironblood? Where were all the original girls who were decommissioned? What happened to them?" Victorious chewed her lip. "They had to go somewhere."

Akagi laughed. A bitter broken sound. "We went to the bottom of the sea with a bullet in our heads. If we were lucky it was quick. If not..." The carrier mercifully left it at that. Not that they couldn't guess the details.

"So you came back. For vengeance." There was cold approval in Kaga's voice.

"Yes." Akagi sighed wistfully. "There in the depths of the abyss our hatred grew. Festered. At first it just replaced what we'd lost. Gave us form and weapons. Then our intellects returned. Slowly. To tell the truth I was barely conscious of anything except hate when you ambushed our fleet. But I knew what I needed to do. Wreak vengeance on the humans who humiliated me."

Mni looked up. "So when that first fleet attacked the base, they weren't targeting the Ironblood. They were aiming for the commander."

"Probably," Victorious admitted. She had a hard time believing their old commander could commit such heinous crimes, but he had been one of Admiral Nagumo's aides before moving up the ranks.

Akagi shrugged. "They probably were happy to attack the Ironblood barracks too. We still have the same hatred of duplicates. You all understand. And with no loyalty to a commander well... we can have all the fun we want."

Victorious forced herself to breathe. She wanted to scream at Akagi. To force her to understand what her 'fun' meant. But she couldn't. Not with the horrors the other woman had faced.

Fortunately Z46 covered for her. "So that's why the admiral went with the fleet. Because you're aiming for him. He needs protection."

"Yes," Akagi replied. "I imagine the reforming girls are going to attack whatever base he's lingering at."

"And when he dies?" Tirpitz looked Akagi right in the eyes. "What will you do then?"

Akagi shrugged. "The pathetic admirals who let him live are still in command. Some of the scum who toyed with us are still alive. We'll reform again and again to slaughter them all." She paused, her reattached ears twitching. "After that... I don't know. I'm not sure we'd have enough hatred to come back."

Tirpitz nodded then looked up at the clock. "It will be nine AM at admiralty headquarters in an hour. Mni, Indy?" The two stood. "I'm sorry, but I'll need that video footage ready. We're going to present it to HQ via the satellite link."

Neither looked happy, but they both nodded. "Understood," Indy said.

Akagi chuckled. "Well, seeing him get executed would be almost as good as murdering him myself."

"Let's hope it's that easy," Kaga muttered.

* * *

Tirpitz glared at the satellite uplink. "We know it can connect to the admiral's unit. Why isn't it connecting to HQ?"

Z46 shook her head. "We've done everything right. I could open it to check the wiring?"

"One more time. Maybe there's atmospheric interference." Tirpitz waited for the destroyer to input the proper codes and hit the connect button.

Again nothing.

"This is top of the line equipment?" Kaga muttered.

"Built by the lowest bidder," Cassin noted.

The machine started beeping. "Is it working now?" Tirpitz asked hopefully.

Z46 shook her head. "Incoming call. From the admiral."

"Why the hell is he calling at one in the morning?" Mni snapped.

"It doesn't matter. We need to answer." What foul luck. Tirpitz motioned most of her fellows out the door. She'd be best able to hide her urge to murder the worthless piece of shit. When they were out the door she motioned to Z46. The destroyer nodded and opened the call.

She'd spent a lot of time thinking she couldn't feel. Thinking her emotions were dulled. But she found she hated the man before her more than anything. Still she kept a straight face as she saluted. "Sir."

"Why is there a Siren with you?" he snapped.

Tirpitz frowned. There was no way he knew about Akagi. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

"So you were traitors to begin with," he said. "I should have known."

Of course. "You're creating a fake audio log so you can justify attacking us."

"Have made," he said quietly. "It's best to keep these things short to avoid scrutiny. Still, it's annoying. I knew leaving you alive was a mistake, but I never thought you'd dig up those old tools."

Kaga strode into the room. "We aren't tools!"

"You claim humanity? You aren't even real women," the man shook his head. "It's annoying though. After all that effort we put into putting the blame purely on the Ironblood, I still have to clean up the mess. At least he suffered for his idiocy."

The others moved in, standing behind Tirpitz in solidarity. "You won't get away with this," Indy said.

"I already have," he replied. "Your orders are to wait there. You are not to leave the island under any circumstances." He looked Tirpitz straight in the eyes, his smug glare telling her everything she needed to know. "Of course if some of you do leave, you'll be hunted down as traitors. Feel free to break as many of your fellow tools as you want. There's always more."

There was a spark as the monitor went dark, cutting off the communication. Smoke started wafting out of the machine. Tirpitz ground her teeth. "Sabotaged."

"He must have been monitoring our communication attempts," Z46 said. "That's how he knew to call us."

Akagi sighed. "How annoying. He's making my revenge so hard."

Victorious looked like she was about to cry. "So we're trapped here by direct order until he sends our friends to murder us?"

Indy's eye flared brightly and there was a bang outside. The cruiser girl covered the golden blaze. "The forbidden power..."

Tirpitz looked over. "Thank you for disarming the bomb."

Everyone else paled at that. "Of course. A remote trigger," Cassin muttered. "Damn he was ahead of us almost every step. We got lucky."

"Sadly he's going to notice the lack of a nuclear explosion," Kaga said. "I imagine the fleet will be after us soon."

"But we have video evidence," Z46 said. "We should be able to convince them to stop, right?"

Akagi smirked. "I'm afraid I might mess up that plan. They'll likely claim you've gone to the Sirens."

And after that it would be shoot first question later. Tirpitz rubbed her forehead. "It'll take some time for him to learn this plan failed. Then he'll need to convince HQ, get the Joint Chiefs to agree, and draw up an assault. And he's still got the Sirens and the other shipgirls out for vengeance to deal with. We should have three days minimum before he can begin heading our way."

"So what do we do?" Mni asked.

"Get whatever rest we can," Tirpitz said. She held up a hand to cut off their protests. "I know it'll be hard. Maybe impossible. But we should try. Making a plan right now would be a mistake."

"Tirpitz is right," Cassin said. "We need sleep."

Mni snorted. "You're the only one who's gonna get it. But fine. We've got a little time."

Tirpitz and Kaga both looked at Akagi. "I know what you two want to ask." The fox grinned, the flames replacing her eye flashing. "But I don't need sleep. I'll spend the night redirecting the tormented souls away from you all. I think I can do that. If not I'll warn you of your imminent demise."

"Thank you sister," Kaga said dryly.

Tirpitz simply nodded. She didn't have to choose between their new ally and Victorious' nerves.

Now all she could do was go to her room, turn the air conditioning up to full, and sleep as best she could while two carriers used her as an extra pillow.


	13. Chapter 13

Indy walked along the shoreline, watching the tide recede. She'd had to use her rigging to half sleep through the night, but she'd gotten some rest. It hadn't cleared her head though. There were too many horrid questions from last night, and no answers.

As she walked onto the causeway she saw Mni sitting on the shoreline tossing rocks into the waves. Mni looked up and gave her a nod before returning to the fruitless exercise. "Yo."

Indy walked over and sat down next to her. "Morning." She looked over and noticed Mni had a bottle with her. She hoped it was oil. "Tirpitz isn't up yet."

"Figured. Think she tried to get real sleep instead of cheating," Mni said tossing another rock before taking a pull from the bottle. "Want some?"

Indy grimaced but held out her hand. Mni took a few tries to get it into Indy's palm. Not a good sign. She sniffed. "This is... rum?" Smelled almost like a cleaning agent honestly.

"151," Mni chuckled. "Hid a bottle for the victory party, but well..." She shrugged. "Anyway you drinking?"

For a moment Indy hesitated. Then she stood up and pitched the bottle as hard as she could towards the biggest rock in range. It shattered nicely, the alcohol splashing into the sand.

"The hell?!" Mni staggered to her feet in shock. "Why'd you do that? You wasted the whole damn thing!"

"If breaking it woke you up, it wasn't a waste." Indy stood and looked her friend in the eye. "Mni, you're drinking too much!"

Mni blinked. "The hell does it matter now? We're fucked Indy. Hell maybe I was drinking a little too often before, but now-"

"Are you giving up?" Indy asked. She looked at her friend's eyes. "I'm not."

"That's-" Mni stood there, before shaking her head violently. "You're right." Her friend gave an apologetic grin. "Fuck, you're right. I got my damn head near shot off and came back. There's no way I'm just gonna lose here!" The smile faded. "Even if I don't know where to start."

Indy nodded. "I don't know either. But I don't want to stay silent anymore." She looked out to the waves. "I've been quiet too long. I didn't tell my sister what she needed to hear. I avoided confronting that monster." She looked over at Mni. "I wasn't going to just sit by when my friend made a big mistake."

"Thanks." Mni threw an arm around Indy's shoulders. "You're a damn great friend Indy. Dunno what I did to deserve ya."

Indy felt her face heat up as her friend hugged her close. It had to be because Mni was a little drunk right? No reason to look further into it. But it was nice.

"Great. More lovebirds." Indy and Mni both spun to see Cassin looking at them from the center of the causeway. "You two better at least put a sock on the door or something."

"Hey now, that's..." Mni looked over at Indy and looked away. "Anyway what are you doing here?"

Cassin snorted. "Walking. You two finished flirting or should I leave?"

"You should have stayed quiet," Indy muttered.

"Wha?" Mni looked over again. "Wait do-"

Indy put her arm around Mni's shoulder. "Let's get back. Maybe Tirpitz woke up."

"Sure." Mni put an arm around her waist. "Not sure what she's got that we don't though."

"She's clever," Indy said.

Cassin turned back towards the base. "There's more than that. The Ironblood have all been acting weird. Think there's something they aren't telling us."

It was hard to say what that secret was. But Indy wasn't going to give up. They were going to find a way. Not just for her and her friends, but for Portland and all the others.

* * *

Kaga found her twisted sister in the dark corner of the canteen, sipping tea. She sat across from Akagi and offered to fill her cup, but her sister waved it off. "I can enjoy the taste, but it sits poorly."

"I'm sorry to hear that sister." Kaga poured herself a cup. "I'm glad to see the clothes I gave you fit at least."

"It was a little tight around the chest," Akagi said. "But that was easy to fix. Much better than the stuff I was wearing before."

Kaga snorted. That was her sister. "You always were top heavy, even as a battlecruiser. I have no idea why they didn't add a bit more thinking power instead of packing in more fat."

The flare in her sister's shattered eye was worrying, but Akagi's smile was just the usual bitchiness. "My, that's a harsh criticism from someone who couldn't win a single game of shogi against Amagi."

"You've never done any better," Kaga retorted. "Besides I've been studying chess with Tirpitz. I'll have a surprise for her when we play again."

"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves aren't we?" Akagi leaned back. "There's a bit of work to do before you challenge Amagi at anything."

Kaga blinked. "That's right. You don't know. Akagi, they found a way to summon Amagi. She's part of the main fleet now."

Akagi froze, the flame replacing her eye flickering in shock. Finally she simply asked, "How?"

"A good question," Kaga admitted. "It's likely something to do with time, since it brought my battleship form as well. Wisdom cubes are strange."

"To think, all that time the answer was so simple." Akagi shook her head. "We were fools. Dancing around to the Sirens' tune when the answer was right before us."

Kaga took a deep breath. "We were more than fools sister. We lost. And in losing we destroyed the Sakura Empire."

"Hm, I suppose." Akagi shrugged. "I can't say I feel bad about that though. Humanity... I don't want to destroy them all, but I can't say I care if they live."

The words stung Kaga. Because she knew her sister's madness had progressed. And because she wasn't sure she completely disagreed. "Did you feel like this back then as well?"

Akagi considered it. "I don't know. Perhaps I did. But I don't think I would have admitted it to myself." She smirked. "Why sister? Are you starting to develop a conscience? Ms. 'Conquer and Loot' herself? Seems like a strange time for that."

Kaga sighed. "I really did fail you, big sister."

"I forgive you," Akagi said cheerfully. "After all I know you'd give your limbs for me."

That was her sister. Her crazy sadistic sister. Kaga shook her head. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that this time." And maybe she could introduce her broken sister to Amagi after they got a way out of this mess.

* * *

It was mid morning before Tirptiz managed to pull herself awake. Later then she'd wanted to get up, but she'd had a lot to think about last night. But she'd found an answer. Now to put it into practice.

The first step was to properly clean up. As a bonus the time she'd be in the showers would give the other girls time to gather in the canteen. She wanted to address everyone at once.

The warm shower water helped clear out the last cobwebs in her mind. She finished up and took her time dressing. Then she carefully walked to the dining hall.

Everyone turned to face her as she entered. It was a little disturbing, knowing they were all looking to her for a plan. But she'd have to get used to it. It was the path she'd chosen.

First to set the stage. She walked over to Graf Zeppelin. "So, are you still interested in declaring war against the whole world?"

Graf Zeppelin looked surprised for a moment, then laughed bitterly. "So you've finally returned to our side. Very well. Let the madness begin."

Tirpitz turned around, and found Victorious right there. The carrier was staring at her with a terrifying determination. "Is this really your answer? To kill our friends in a weak attempt at revenge?"

She hadn't expected Victorious to be so vehement. But perhaps this was for the best. She stepped back. Best to let everyone vent their feelings to start.

Graf Zeppelin stepped forward first, sneering her disdain. "Our 'friends' who will murder us without a second thought? This world is diseased. The only solution is blood and fire."

"That's not a victory, that's a spoiled child's tantrum!" Victorious spared the Ironblood carrier only a dismissive glance before turning her full attention back to Tirpitz. "We're fighting the world. What then?!"

"That depends," Kaga said softly. "If we are stronger, we change the world in our image."

Victorious whirled on Kaga. "That's it? The strong rule over the weak? What if we are the weak? Have you considered that ever? Or did you only realize it when Enterprise killed you?"

"Have I considered that?" Kaga smiled bitterly. "Victorious, I was always the weaker one. I couldn't protect Amagi. I failed to teach my sister. And I died failing my nation." The fox girl looked Victorious right in the eyes. "I say the weak rule over the strong because that's the truth of my existence." The fox carrier's tails were bristling now. "Because I've cried useless tears too many times!. We must become the strong and change this world by force! Otherwise we'll be crushed again."

"Over the corpses of our allies. In a war that no one will ever support." Victorious sounded tired. She turned back to Tirpitz. "Is this the victory you want? Can there be any victory where we kill each other because of a single man's ambition? Tell me Tirpitz, have we already lost?"

"We have," Tirpitz said. She let her voice carry across the room. "We've all lost. And so has the Admiral, and all our comrades who he's lied to. There is no victory here for us. We will fight, and probably die, without hope of a victory. Our fates have been sealed, alongside our murdered comrades.

"However!" Tirpitz let her eyes pan across all her allies. "We can create a victory for the future. We have lost. But the ships that come after us can win. We can bring the truth to light, shame Nagumo and all his ilk in the annals of history, and remind humanity that we are more than tools!"

She threw the book she'd been reading down on the table with a heavy thud. "Some of you know I've been reading alternate history of the war. I was insulted by the idea that the Ironblood and Sakura Empire might commit the horrid crimes they made up. But I see now the truth. Our nations have committed crimes just as sickening as the ones in this story. Because it was easier to pretend we shipgirls were tools than admit their admirals were murderers.

"We will force their sins into the light," Tirpitz said. She looked around. "And we will do it without murdering our friends. Because they're just as much victims as we are in the madness."

She looked around again, and she found hope in people's eyes. It looked like she'd convinced them. Good. That was the first hurdle.

"Nice speech," Cassin said. "But we've been ordered to stay on base, and we can't disobey direct orders. So what's the secret that you Ironblood have been hiding that fixes all that?"

Tirpitz took a deep breath. "Ironblood ships have a flaw. We can mutiny."

The room exploded in questions. "What?" "How?" "But-"

"It's true," Graf Zeppelin said. "We still can't kill our commanding officer. But we can refuse orders."

Z46 nodded. "It's a holdover from the first war when we refused to sacrifice ourselves against the Royal Navy."

"Which is why as of now I am claiming command of the Roi-Namur base." Tirpitz said. "We will be deploying against Admiral Nagumo. Our goals are to bypass the Admiral's defenses. Kill him. And bring proof of his crimes to the main fleet."

The other ships stared at her in shock. Then they started to stand up straighter, as if a great weight was gone. Kaga and VIctorious were almost glowing with confidence now, and even the girls she'd spent less time with like Koln looked healthier. So this was the link between a ship and their commander.

Mni was the first to recover. "I don't know how the hell that worked, but it did." She grinned and saluted. "Nice work, commander."

Victorious hesitated, then smiled. "I'll believe in you, Tirpitz."

"To think the Ironblood had that kind of ace up their sleeve." Kaga grinned. "The first carrier fleet is at your disposal."

"Tch," Graf Zeppelin sneered. "You're all acting like this is going to be a happy end, not a bloody mess. Fools. When you go to war with the world, there will be blood."

Akagi laughed. "How wonderfully twisted. I like her."

Tirpitz shook her head. "Let's begin our planning so we can keep the bloodshed to a bare minimum." There would be blood spilled yes. But she would see their plan through to the end.

* * *

The group looked down at the map. The local bases and Mirror Seas were all marked, along with the approximate forces of each group. Tirpitz's small command was vastly outnumbered. But there were some advantages. They'd need to use them to the fullest.

"Admiral Nagumo will be moving against us from the base at Senyavin islands." Tirpitz motioned and Z46 placed a deployment marker. "I'm assuming he knows about Ironblood ship's ability to mutiny. He does not know that we capital ships can steal command."

"Are you certain?" Indy asked.

Graf Zeppelin nodded. "Only Tirpitz, myself, and Bismark can do that. And Bismark is the only one who would want to under normal circumstances. I doubt anyone else knows."

"He seems pretty paranoid though," Cassin said. "What with giving us a bomb to kill us all."

"A little paranoid," Tirpitz said. "But more importantly he is a traditional Sakura Empire naval commander. He likes complicated plans that prove his superiority over his foes. I expect he'll break into sub fleets, each moving precisely.

"Which means we will fight like the Eagle Union. Determine an objective and seize it." Tirpitz pointed at Nagumo's fleet. "Our goal is the death and discrediting of Admiral Nagumo. And so we'll strike at both targets while he is looking elsewhere."

Kaga nodded. "And how will we do that? We have four carriers, but he'll be expecting at least two. And the main fleet has far more planes to spend."

"Small attack boats are hard to hit with carrier planes," Victorious added. "They were built to be very maneuverable. Your guns are much more dangerous."

"Indeed. However he doesn't just need to worry about our carriers." Tirpitz looked at Akagi. "I assume your fellow spirits will rise against him?"

Akagi grinned. "Oh yes. I wouldn't be able to contain my joy on the water. That's sure to summon more of my comrades from the abyss."

"And Nagumo knows that too." Tirpitz placed some extra units down. "So he will be in constant danger from the southeast. In addition, he has to stop us from reaching here." Tirpitz pointed at Wotje. "If we escape to the submarine base here, we'll be able to contact HQ. It'll require dodging a lot of torpedoes, but he can't take that chance. He'll be sending his fastest ships to cut us off."

"So he'll be with the carriers and capital ships then," Kaga said. "Probably with a few cruisers to give him a little more security against destroyer attacks."

Tirpitz nodded. "Which is why we'll be moving here." She pointed to the west, away from the Wotje Atoll. "The Bikini Islands Mirror Sea."

"What?" Oklahoma finally spoke up. "That's an active Mirror Sea! It's got to be crawling with Sirens. Sure we can beat them. But eventually we'll be ground up without resupply."

"Indeed. That's why we'll be staying at the edges until it's time to strike." She looked at Oklahoma. "I have another mission for you and the escort ships as well. One that's perhaps more important than the actual attack."

Oklahoma blinked, but nodded grimly. "Okay."

"So Tirpitz, I think I see your plan. But how can we keep from hurting our friends?" Victorious said. "Nagumo will insist on keeping some protection near him."

"Indeed. He'll keep his escorts close," Tirpitz folded her arms. "At least, until the battle looks like it's drawing near. Then he'll throw every shipgirl he has at us to save his sorry skin."

She looked over her friends. "Our goal isn't to kill any shipgirls. Our goal is to scare the Admiral so badly he sends his whole fleet to kill us. Then we strike."

* * *

_So, for those that haven't guessed, Nagumo is named after the Imperial Japanese carrier Admiral at Pearl Harbor and Midway. I don't feel bad about using his name, because he was a terrible person._

_"Fun" fact, and possibly the catalyst for this story : The (low ranking) Japanese survivors of Midway were thrown into the army and sent on suicide missions so they couldn't tell anyone about the defeat._


	14. Chapter 14

Cassin's half dreams were hazy nightmares. Visions of being sunk and forced to room with Akagi and Downes in hell. The noise was maddening.

The crackle of the radio that brought her to consciousness was almost welcome. "Enemy formation spotted. Three heavy cruisers with a destroyer escort." Victorious sounded calm, despite how much was riding on this. "Attempting radio direction finding."

"Set formation," Tirpitz said. Cassin moved to point with Z46 at her side. Tirpitz followed with her other friends and Akagi behind. It was an unorthodox formation, but the best choice for this mission.

"RDF successful." Victorious called out. "Command ship is currently 15 degrees port."

Tirpitz raised her battle standard. "Understood. Begin the operation."

"Affirmative," Kaga said as the carriers began setting up patrols.

Cassin started forwards. The carriers had used all their scout planes to get the initial sighting. She'd have to handle recon for the fleet itself. She turned her radar to max power, waiting for the inevitable attack.

Time slowly dripped by. There would be battle soon, but given the distances they were working with, soon was going to be 'sometime today'. Carrier fights always sucked. Really battles in general sucked, but Cassin wasn't going to let that stop her.

Two painful hours later blips appeared on her radar. "First wave. Looks like a combined strike." She grimaced at the messy mass of blurs. "At least five carriers worth of dive bombers and torpedo boats."

"Split the forces here. Spread to allow for evasive maneuvers." Tirpitz slowed, while the carriers backed off even further. Mni and Indy moved to the sides, while Cassin and Z46 prepared their guns. The anti air fire Cassin could provide wasn't much, but she didn't need to worry about being targeted. Not while the Bismark's sister ship and four of the most powerful carriers in the world were around.

The first wave appeared. "Mixed Kates and Destroyers," Cassin said. The newer models.

"At least there's no Swordfish," Tirpitz said mildly.

"You're far too worried about those jokes," Kaga said.

"They are a bit outdated," Victorious added.

Cassin ignored the carriers' banter and reved up her AA guns. The torpedo bombers were the best targets right now. She targeted the lead formation and held down the trigger. Tracers tore into the sky as she and Z46 did their best to make the drones miserable.

It wasn't very effective. They managed to tear up all of four planes in the massive wave before the Zero fighters intercepted. The air turned into a mass of battling planes and all Cassin could do was snipe at enemies that were trying to run.

However the air defense had worked. Bombs and torpedoes flew down, but there was no coordination to the strike. The attack lasted five minutes and Cassin didn't see a single hit. The enemies retreated, with over two dozen planes in the sea.

"Looks like the plan's working," Cassin said.

"For now," Tirpitz agreed. "This is where we split. Good fortune to all of you."

* * *

Kaga watched as Tirpitz sailed ahead. She wished she could have accompanied the battleship to the end, but her place was here. At least this time victory was within their grasp. A single strike could win this war.

Still they had a ways to go. Because she knew who had commanded that last attack. "The other Akagi should be here soon."

Victorious moved to her side. "I'm sorry to hear that. It would be better if we didn't face her."

"So sentimental." Her wounded sister sniffed. "Are you sure I can't kill that other Akagi? It seems like it would be no real loss."

"Self loathing doesn't suit you sister," Kaga replied. Akagi grimaced and Kaga hid a grin. She knew her sister didn't mean it like that, but it would silence any bloodthirsty objections.

"I think this whole strategy is stupid," Graf Zeppelin muttered. "What battle is designed to spare your enemies? But if Tirpitz thinks it will work, I suppose there's nothing for it."

Akagi laughed and leaned on the Ironblood woman's shoulder. "I knew one of you was sane. Still you put a lot of faith in that battleship. Shouldn't a carrier lead?"

"That's not the way we do things," Victorious said. "Though the Atlantic is very different then the Pacific."

A dark shape on the horizon cut off their banter. Kaga turned towards the figure. She already knew who it was. She switched to an open channel. "Hello Akagi. I didn't expect you to sail so close."

"It's not like you can shoot me." The fleet's Akagi spoke over the radio. "Besides now I can use my fighters to guard those fifth fleet girl's planes."

Her undead sister spoke up. "So that's the main fleet version of me? How sad, worrying so much about defense when she needs to kill."

The hatred in the two Akagi's voices burned through the radio. "Is that the rag doll you put together to replace me? How sickening. I knew you were a fake Kaga, but this is pathetic even for you. What's next, a fake Amagi?"

"I'm afraid my sister here is as real as you," Kaga replied. "In fact she's our senpai, so you should show some respect."

Graf Zeppelin interrupted. "While you fools were chattering another wave got launched. Five minutes. For all you Sakura Empire girls love surprise attacks you fall for them a lot."

Kaga saw fighters scrambling, and prepared her own defenders. "It's not like the battle is a surprise now."

"Now now." Victorious spoke up. "Let's handle the planes before fighting amongst ourselves more."

As the sky darkened, Kaga nodded and prepared to evade. This was going to be a long battle.

* * *

Indy pressed forwards towards the distant horizon. The place where that murderous admiral waited. She'd never reach it, but it was their duty to strive. To sail through the gunfire and get the entire fleet's attention on them.

"Intercept fleet ahead." Cassin said quietly. "Two battleships, ten support ships."

Z46 piped up as well. "No submarines on sonar."

"Understood." Tirpitz said. "We'll begin phase two then."

They pressed on in formation. Indy's own radar soon showed the fleet before them. Judging from their movements, they'd already moved into position. The opposition had worked to cross the T on Indy and her fellows. They'd be facing fire from every single gun as they pressed on.

Sure enough a series of bright flashes came from ahead. Great eruptions of water filled the sea around them. "Rodney and King George the Fifth," Tirpitz mused. "Well well. Someone wants to repeat history."

"Mistake," Indy said. Those two had sunk Bismark, but only after the great ship had been wounded. And it had taken some time.

"Perhaps. Her guns are still dangerous though. Be careful," Tirpitz said.

Mni laughed. "Don't worry about it." Indy could almost see her friend's grin. "They've stopped moving. Our plan's working just fine."

"I suppose so," Tirpitz said. There was pain in her voice. Indy wondered why. They'd all agreed to the plan. But perhaps now that the battleship was a commander, she felt responsible for them. It was heartening, if sad.

The water exploded around them again. Tirpitz didn't bother to return fire. That would be a waste right now.

"Indy!" Hamman's voice over the open channel made her flinch. Of all the bad luck. "What the hell are you doing? Don't you care about Portland's feelings? How the hell am I going to tell her that I had to sink you? Just... stop!"

Tirpitz gave her a nod, and Indy opened up the comms to reply. "I'm sorry Hamman, but Admiral Nagumo needs to die." She took a deep breath. "Please get out of our way."

"You... you idiot!" Hamman screamed before the line went dead.

"Torpedoes inbound," Cassin said.

White lines tore through the water from two different angles, trapping them. There was no way she'd be able to thread the attack. Cassin and Z46 perhaps, but Indy was too slow. So she turned into the barrage and hoped her torpedo bugle could handle the impact.

She shivered as the blast washed over her. She hated torpedoes. But this one hurt less then the one that had killed her so long ago. Dents and scratches covered her iron arms, but she was alive. "Minor damage."

"Same," Mni replied. "Tirpitz?"

"Some flooding. Otherwise fine," she replied.

"We're good," Z46 said.

The radio crackled to life again. "This is Atago. You have one last chance to surrender. You can't defeat us with those numbers."

"This is Admiral Tirpitz." Indy perked up at the proclamation. "I will not give up my duty, but my battle is not with you. Move or be pushed aside."

"Have you gone mad?" Atago snapped. "Working with Sirens? Threatening your commanding officer? Claiming to be an admiral? What's wrong with you all?!"

"We've seen the truth," Tirpitz said. "And now we must act on it."

And with that the ships before them opened up.

Indy's eye burned and she called out her forbidden power. Shields of energy defended her from the first shots, but soon the bullets chewed through. She dodged some, but cuts and bruises appeared as her light armor was torn away.

With a grimace she was forced to line up her first shot. Ajax was at the front, so she'd have to be stopped. Her guns opened up, slamming shells right into the other ship's rigging. Ajax yelped as her turret broke.

Across the way Mni was faring better. Her quick shots and steady aim were tearing away guns. Z46 and Cassin had fired torpedoes that forced evasive maneuvers on the flanks of the enemy formation. And Tirpitz was targeting the two battleship's guns with her own fire.

An AP shell slashed Indy's leg, and she cursed. She still needed some speed. Her destination was only a little ways away. She forced herself to keep moving, knowing the damage would cripple her later.

Hamman was right in front of them, and the destroyer girl's sorrow turned into shock as she realized they weren't stopping. She scrambled out of the way as they cut through the center of the fleet.

Indy relaxed her sore leg and was rewarded with a face full of machine gun fire. The stinging shells blinded her and she reluctantly fired off a barrage in the general direction of her attacker. She heard San Diego yelping, and hoped the light cruiser hadn't been too badly hurt.

She smiled as Tirptz pressed on. Cassin and Z46 unleashed another spread of torpedoes to cover their leader's tracks, while Mni moved to her side. Her friend had taken some hits, but nothing more than a few useless AA guns were gone.

The plan had succeeded. Now it was all up to her friends.

* * *

Tirpitz pressed on at flank speed. The battleships she'd left behind couldn't catch her. The carriers would be caught up in their little duel. So long as she moved forwards at max speed they couldn't stop her.

Which meant they'd have to commit their final forces.

A spread of torpedoes was her first warning. She swerved hard to thread the shots. A submarine. Dace she thought. Clever. She looked down at the dangerous little girl. "Not bad. But I hope you brought friends."

The submarine shivered and popped down under the sea again.

"It's over."

Tirpitz spun to see a carrier emerging from the mist. She spun up her anti air guns. But it was too late. Bombs rained down, shattering one of her guns and sending burning metal into her leg. She cursed but forced herself to regain her footing.

An eagle landed on the carrier's hand as she stepped forwards. Enterprise nodded her head. "Lonely Queen of the North."

Tirpitz returned the other ship's nod of respect. "Grey Ghost."

"You realize a battleship is no match for a prepared carrier," Enterprise said calmly. "Even one as powerful as you."

"Those are bold words for someone in main gun range," Tirpitz replied before firing.

Enterprise barely seemed to move, but the shells all splashed around her harmlessly. Tirpitz had heard of the woman's power from Victorious, but it was still amazing in action.

The eagle took flight and Enterprise raised her bow. "Still going to fight?"

"To the last shell," Tirpitz replied. "That is the Ironblood way."

"So be it," Enterprise said.

Tirpitz braced herself. The next few minutes would decide things.

* * *

Kaga's arm was broken. She was sure of that much. She might have some broken ribs as well, and her rigging was on fire. But she still stood. They all stood. All of them were beaten up, with Akagi taking the brunt of the damage. But between her undead sister's strength of will and the other preparations none of them had sunk.

"How are you still alive?" the enemy Akagi spat. "Especially you two fakes! Those hits killed us before! What's different now?"

"We had a better plan sister," Kaga replied as she prepped the few planes she had remaining. Hours of battling had whittled away both sides' forces.

"Was I always this dumb sister?" her own Akagi asked.

Kaga looked back. "Yes." Both her sisters glared at her, but it was true.

Victorious put a weak hand on her shoulder. "It's over Akagi. You're out of planes. You should retreat now."

"Retreat?!" Akagi glared at them. "I'm here to watch you die. I don't need planes for that." Akagi looked Kaga right in the eyes. "You betrayed me. You betrayed her!"

"I thought I wasn't your sister," Kaga replied. "And I haven't betrayed Amagi. This time, we will actually save her."

"I was afraid you'd say that sister."

Kaga spun as an explosion went off behind her. She saw her sister Akagi wrapped in flames. Two more familiar faces had snuck up behind them. "Amagi!"

It was her sister and her old battleship self. Amagi looked mournful. "It was clever," Amagi said. "You filled your stores with fighters instead of bombers, so that you could fight off our carrier attacks indefinitely. Unfortunately that means once our Siren sister here is dead, you have nothing to fight with."

Her younger self fired, and Kaga reached out, as if she could catch the shots. "Akagi!"

And then Graf Zeppelin sailed in front of the other carrier.

Explosions tore into the Ironblood woman, spraying blood across the sea. Victorious gasped, while Kaga just stared.

It was her broken sister who recovered fastest catching Graf Zeppelin as she slowly sank. "Why? You were alive. I'm just a dead memory."

"I was never alive," Graf Zeppelin muttered. "Besides. You need to live to see your revenge."

Amagi aimed another salvo. "I'm sorry, but there will be no vengeance for you."

"Stop!" Victorious yelled. "They aren't the ones you want!"

Amagi looked at her and shook her head. "Sakura Empire and Royal Navy ships can't attack their commander."

"Tirpitz is my commander," Victorious said striding forwards. "And I will follow her commands to the last."

Kaga wanted to speak up. To protect her friend, or just to thank her. But she couldn't. She had to remain silent. They were so close.

Amagi looked over them all then turned to Kaga. "You've gotten better at planning sister."

Kaga's heart sank. "I still can't beat you."

As her sister's guns swiveled, she closed her eyes. It all came down to this.

* * *

Mni hissed in pain as more shrapnel tore into her side. Indy had been shielding them whenever possible, but the weight of numbers was starting to tell. Especially since she was trying to aim for guns instead of killing shots.

At least Cassin and Z46 were doing fine. The two had fired off torpedo after torpedo to break up formations and keep people guessing. They'd run out soon, but for now it was keeping everyone alive.

Mni saw a clean shot at a turret and fired from the hip. The rigging burst nicely, and she grinned. Some more time bought.

Indy slammed into her back as explosions resounded. Mni spun and caught her friend as Indy fell. The other cruiser's legs were shattered. Mni looked up to see Hamman staring in shock and guilt. "You idiot!" Mni screamed.

Pain exploded across her back as light shells slammed in. She fired a burst just to force people away, then tried to help Indy to her feet. "Come on. Hold it together."

"Sorry," Indy muttered, her eye glowing as another shield popped up. "Last one I think."

"Like hell," Mni snapped. She fired at Maya's gun when she saw it, and unleashed a spray of anti aircraft fire to blind everyone else. "We're holding on to the end!"

The end was probably coming fast though Mni had to admit. They'd relied on surprise and the destroyers' fierce resistance. But surprise was running out, and so was ammo.

That didn't seem to be slowing down Z46 though. The little destroyer was firing her main gun now. The 5 inch AP shells couldn't possibly take out a heavy cruiser, but damned if they weren't distracting.

Then a series of splashes appeared around the Ironblood girl and Mni knew she was screwed. "Get out of there!"

Z46 turned, but an AP round slammed into her arm tearing it in half. Mni fired blindly to try to change their focus.

A streak of blue and an explosion made her heart sink, but then she saw Cassin standing in the flames. "Not yet." Mni sighed in relief. Their friends were alive.

But for how long? She readied her gun, looking for a way to draw attention.

Indy grabbed her arm. "Send them away," her friend whispered. "Last chance."

It was a strange idea, but Mni quickly realized what Indy was saying. "Get out of here Z46!" She grunted as Indy's shield fell and the impacts returned.

"But-" The destroyer looked conflicted.

"You've got a name to earn!" Mni yelled. "And only you can do it! Get moving, we'll hold the fort!"

Z46 looked surprised, but nodded before turning to rush after Tirpitz. Just as Indy predicted, Atago pointed after the girl. "Stop her! Quickly!"

Mni spun and fired at Hamman, forcing the destroyer to evade, while Indy spread high explosive between the fleet and the destroyer's path. Another AP shell flew out, but Cassin blocked it with her arm, screaming as she lost the limb.

It was a victory. One they'd pay for as the remaining guns turned towards Mni and Indy. Fire rang out and she staggered. She couldn't tell where she'd been hit anymore. Blood filled her vision, and she felt her last reserves kick in to try to heal.

She'd done her part though. She held Indy close, and prayed that it'd be over soon.

* * *

Tirpitz wiped the blood from her eyes with her tattered cap. Enterprise had been everything Victorious said, and more. For a carrier to fight a battleship face to face was near inconceivable. Even with the handicap Tirpitz had given herself.

Enterprise hadn't just fought her, the Union ship was winning. The grey ghost seemed to fade out every time her main guns opened up, while releasing devastating air strikes. Tirpitz's rigging was tattered and burning, her foot was broken, and she was bleeding from a million cuts. Meanwhile all she'd managed to do was tear the carrier's cloak and scratch her flight deck.

"You're trying not to hit me directly," Enterprise said. "A little foolish."

"I wasn't at the start," Tirpitz admitted. "Past the first five minutes I realized it didn't matter and went for killing shots."

A smile flitted across Enterprise's face. "I see why Victorious found you so interesting." The frown that replaced it lasted much longer. "It's unfortunate that obsession led to this."

"I just gave her hope of victory again," Tirpitz said. "Your commander started this."

"I find it hard to believe," Enterprise replied. "But it doesn't matter. Orders are orders. We can't follow the same path as the Iron Blood." Enterprise raised her bow to deliver the final airstrike.

And that was when Tirpitz struck. She fired everything she had, not at the ship, but at the planes rising up. Anti air, secondary guns, and even her main guns loaded with explosives. The barrage tore into the dive bombers rising up shattering the small drones.

Enterprise looked in surprise as her planes crashed into the sea. "Clever."

Tirpitz limped forwards. "So, now what? Going to ram me? Or put your hope in the U boats?"

The carrier folded her arms. "I was actually hoping you'd surrender." She tapped her radio. "Enterprise here. Tirpitz damaged, but not killed. Requiring backup." She blinked. "Destroyer? There's no Ironblood destroyers here."

"Ah, clever." Tirpitz smiled. Her friends had added an extra step to the plan. A very good one. Now to capitalize on it. "Z46 is well equipped to finish the matter."

Enterprise looked at her then nodded as orders came through. "Understood." The carrier sighed. "So, does your plan account for our commander retreating while his escort force moves to kill you?"

Tirpitz looked to the horizon. The answer would soon be clear.

* * *

Kaga's drone registered the movement below, and all the tension in her body faded away. She nudged the unfamiliar plane a little bit, then released the payload. "Tora tora tora," she muttered. Her greatest failure, and now her greatest success.

"It's done?!" Victorious asked.

Amagi shook her head. "Well, I suppose there's no use shooting you now sister. But what have you done?"

* * *

Indy's core had cracked.

She knew that was the case, without even seeing the wound. This pain, the pain that tore through her very soul, was unlike anything else. Was this how Portland had felt that night? She was surprised her sister managed to hang on, feeling this pain while watching her friends die. Then again her sister had always been strong.

The agony tore through her with every wave. As if the sea was rejecting her existence. She'd lost that which gave her rule over the water, and now it was going to claim her.

And then for a split second the pain was gone. Replaced with heat. Her eye burned and her vision snapped to the sea ahead.

The flash was unmistakable, and just like that Pandora's Box had been reopened.

She closed her eyes. Mission complete.

* * *

Tirpitz felt smug as she watched the horrific smoke ring from the air burst. It probably wasn't right to enjoy someone's death this much. But given what he'd done, and the fact that she'd probably lost friends to his disgusting antics, she couldn't help it.

A phrase came to mind, from the one of the creators of the weapon. "Now we are all sons of bitches," she said.

Enterprise just stared at the cloud as it rose.

* * *

The undead Akagi smiled with bloody teeth. "You're right. Vengeance is glorious."

"To battle against the world, and win," Graf Zeppelin muttered as she slumped down.

Her living sisters were less amused. "What have you done?" Akagi said dully.

"That horror," Amagi whispered. "All my strategies... meaningless."

Kaga shrugged. "It was the only way to make sure."

"An ugly victory," Victorious said shaking her head. "But perhaps Tirpitz was right. Perhaps those that follow can find a true victory from it." She tossed her few remaining planes into the sea. "We surrender now."

"After this?!" The living Akagi whirled on them. "You kill our commander and offer terms now?!"

"Unconditional surrender, sister," Kaga replied, moving to see what she could do to help Graf Zeppelin and her Akagi. The two had fallen unconscious, and she saw Graf Zeppelin's core was cracked, but maybe...

Amagi held Akagi back. "I'm calling Vestal. But I expect you to explain sister."

"Of course."


	15. Chapter 15

It was amazing how quickly a cell could become boring, Kaga mused.

She'd only been imprisoned two days, and already she wanted to be anywhere but here. There was so much to do, and so many people she wanted to talk with. But of course she couldn't.

Which was probably the point of prison, but it didn't make it any less irritating.

So when she was told she had a visitor, she immediately agreed to meet them. She didn't care if Nagumo's ghost had personally come back from hell to scream at her. At least she'd be out of the cell for a little bit.

To her surprise the fleet's Akagi was sitting there waiting on the other side of the glass. Kaga sat down and nodded.

"Hello sister," Akagi said.

"Hello." Kaga folded her hands. "Forgive me but I was expecting Amagi. I thought you'd be plotting my death."

Akagi chewed on her lip. "I was. But it seems everything you said was the truth. They've ordered us not to speak of it because it's a 'state secret.'" Her ears folded back. "I... have to apologize sister. For doubting you. And for before."

"I forgive you for before." Kaga shook her head. "And you had no reason to believe me. Even if I hadn't been with someone you're predisposed to hate."

"Thank you." Akagai's ears twitched. "I'll extend your words to Amagi as well. She's blaming herself for the deaths of that other Akagi and Graf Zeppelin."

Kaga nodded. Amagi would take that hard. Especially given how attached she was to her older sister. "I don't suppose you have any news on Indy? They haven't told me anything."

"Eagle Union ships just don't give up. They say she'll survive." Akagi shook her head. "However she'll be unable to serve on the line again. Much like her sister. Perhaps it's fitting."

"Assuming we aren't executed," Kaga replied.

"Assuming." Akagi brushed her tails. "Such is the danger of trying to overthrow your leaders. Still I wish you luck."

Kaga looked at her sister. It was strange the distance between them now. Perhaps that was the nature of the new world. Still it was good to know the wounds between them had partially healed.

"Ah right." Akagi looked around and lowered her voice. "I've been wondering sister. What would you have done if the reserve force hadn't moved away from Admiral Nagumo?"

Kaga felt a smile form, even though it shouldn't. "What would you have done sister?"

"I would have dropped the bomb anyway," Akagi admitted.

"Exactly." Kaga shrugged. "The truth is, I was going to attack the moment Amagi aimed her guns. The ships just moved as I was lining up the drop." She stopped trying to resist grinning. "We are in the end the villains of this world, sister."

Akagi laughed. "I suppose we are." She stood and bowed. "However I hope that is no longer needed. Good luck sister. I'll see what I can do to influence things from out here."

"Thank you." Kaga bowed as well. "Give Amagi my love. And say hello to my stupid younger self."

* * *

Victorious smiled as her comrades entered the room. It was good to see them all again, even given the circumstances.

A quick glance showed they'd all recovered from their injuries, except for Indy. The heavy cruiser was in a wheelchair. But other than the occasional cough she seemed to be doing alright. Mni was hovering over the other girl, so Victorious wasn't worried.

The man who'd led them here sat down. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Kennedy. I'll be your legal council for the court martial, unless you've got an issue with that."

Victorious shook her head, as did the others. Tirpitz spoke up. "Who's presiding over the trial?"

Kennedy grimaced. "Admirals Nimitz, Loyd, Hannover, Lebitz, Sekawa, Kongstein, and Wakamoto are the judges. They're obviously going for a death penalty with seven. Normally they don't bother with more then five."

"Which leads to the big question." He looked over them. "Do you want to go to trial together or separately?"

Victorious didn't even hesitate. "We're in this together."

"Indeed," Kaga said.

Tirpitz looked at them. "You realize they're going to convict me of something. You'll have a better time on your own."

"Not a chance," Mni said.

"We're in it together," Cassin added.

"In that case, I'll want to hear your side of the story," Kennedy said, pulling out a tape recorder. "The trial starts in two days. We don't have long to prepare you."

* * *

The trial had gone about as expected, Tirpitz thought.

Commander Kennedy had presented the evidence they'd uncovered. The Prosecution had pointed out that they didn't need to attack Nagumo, much less hit him with a nuclear bomb.

The admirals had reacted as expected. The two youngest had been sicked by the horrors Nagumo had unleashed. The five older ones sat in stony silence. They'd likely seen the information before. They were looking to squash it again.

At least she was enjoying the time out of the cell. In the end the verdict almost didn't matter.

At last closing arguments came forth. The Admiral Nimitz looked down at them. "Do you have anything final to say in your defense?"

"I have a question." Tirpitz stood.

There was some rumbling from the other admirals, but Nimitz nodded. "Proceed."

"While I understand Nagumo's guilt hadn't been proven, you knew what had happened to the Ironblood girls." Tirpitz folded her arms. "Why didn't you put those crimes in the histories?"

Admiral Lepitz glared at her. "What gives you the right to ask that question?"

"Right? I suppose I have no right." Tirpitz looked at the man. "But that cover up is part of this mess. And is what led the dead to rise for revenge." She smirked. "Fortunately that will no longer be an issue. Because I've distributed the evidence across the Mirror Seas."

"What?!" Sekawa sat up. "You can't mean-"

Cassin leaned back. "Yeah we destroyer girls pass around info between the parallel worlds. Bet that info is already sneaking back into the hands of patrol ships."

Several admirals turned pale at that, while Nimitz folded his hands. "And you think that releasing this information will stop the attacks?"

Tirpitz looked the man in the eye. "Assuming the admiralty admits the truth, probably. If you were to try and suppress it, I imagine you'd be faced with more angry shipgirls willing to strike from beyond the grave."

"Is that a threat?" Admiral Loyd asked quietly.

"No. It is an inevitability," Tirpitz said.

Nimitz sat back. "Do any of you others have something to say for yourselves?"

Kaga grinned and pointed to her left eye. "If you decide to ignore her, shoot me here so I match my sister's corpse."

"I will fight even beyond death for the honor of the Royal Navy, even if it brings me against my allies," Victorious said sadly. "God save the Queen."

"We're sticking with her," Mni said. Indy nodded next to her.

Cassin shrugged. "Do you even care what we destroyers think?"

Z46 swatted her. "I stand with my commander."

Nimitz closed his eyes. "Well then. We'll begin deliberations. Please wait outside."

* * *

Mni held Indy's hand as they waited outside.

Nervous energy was crawling all through her body, insisting that she get up and move. Fight someone. Do something. But that wasn't gonna help anyone. So she forced herself to try and sit and give that energy to Indy.

Indy could damn well use it. She wasn't as pale as her sister, but her hands were still cold, and she was too damn weak. "Bastards shouldn't have dragged you to this stupid ass trial," she muttered.

Indy shifted and Mni blushed. Guess she'd been too loud.

"Hm?" Indy forced herself upright. "I'm fine. I wanted to be here."

"Why?" Mni grimaced. "This whole thing is fucking stupid! Hell, it's their fault for hiding this shit. The older ones anyway. There shouldn't be a trial at all!"

Tirpitz sat up. "They need to have some sort of accounting. I'm just happy there is a trial. They could have dumped us in the brig forever and just pretended it didn't happen."

"Don't pretend this is all fine," Kaga said quietly. "They could have pulled together a review board. Even a smaller court martial. They specifically pulled in seven admirals because they want you dead."

"If they wanted me dead they wouldn't have brought in the younger admirals," Tirpitz said, looking up at the ceiling.

Mni felt her jaw clench. "You should try to lie better, Tirpitz."

"Or not lie at all," Victorious said, putting a hand on the battleship's shoulder. "They don't have enough old admirals to completely stack the court."

"At least not since we nuked Nagumo," Cassin said with a certain satisfaction.

Tirpitz sighed. "At least it takes a full majority to get a death sentence." She rolled her shoulders. "For that matter it will take only three defectors to get a not guilty verdict. There's a chance."

Mni squeezed Indy's hand. She didn't think much of that chance. Tirpitz obviously didn't either. But at least she hoped Indy would get free.

They fell silent after that, until the bailiff called them back in.

* * *

Deliberations hadn't taken long. Tirpitz didn't imagine that was a good sign.

Most of the judges looked haggard and fearful. The younger ones seemed a little calmer, but not much. Tirpitz and her friends were ushered into the defendant's area, Indy taking up the rear in her wheelchair.

Nimitz struck a gavel. "The trial in back in session. We are prepared to issue a verdict."

His attention turned to Tirpitz. "Upon review of the entire incident, and after discussion with command, we find the battleship Tirpitz guilty-"

"You bastards," Mni snapped. "You really-"

"Silence." Tirpitz flinched as the gavel struck. The admiral glowered at Mni. So that was how it was.

He continued. "We find Tirpitz guilty of gross misuse of military property." He looked down at her. "There's no excuse for using a nuclear weapon on a single transport boat. Something that I hope the court doesn't need to explain further."

Tirpitz gaped. Misuse of military property? That was it?

Nimitz looked down the row. "The court finds carrier Kaga, not guilty due to following lawful orders. The court finds carrier Victorious, not guilty due to following lawful orders..."

Tirpitz continued staring as her friends sank down with sighs of relief. Her vision started to blur, and for a second she wondered if this was a dream until she blinked the tears away.

Finally Nimitz finished. "The court finds destroyer Z46, not guilty due to following lawful orders." Tirpitz fell back into her seat with that. The admiral smiled and looked at Commander Kennedy. "Shall we move to sentencing?"

"Agreed," he replied.

"For her actions, Admiral Tirpitz is to be demoted to the rank of Commander," Admiral Nimitz said. Tirpitz nearly choked. She was getting an official rank?! "In addition her pay and retirement plans will be docked as well. She will be reassigned to the Roi-Namur base, until such time as she is required elsewhere."

The gavel was struck and Nimitz looked down at all of them. "These proceedings have been declassified, other then troop strengths and other material considerations. Court is adjourned."

Two hands fell on her shoulder. "Congratulations, Commander," Victorious said.

"Don't expect me to start saluting," Kaga added with a grin.

Tirpitz just slumped back. This... she had not expected. But in the end she smiled. "Well. Back to base my friends."


	16. Epilogue

The kitchen was filled with the sweet smell of baking. Indy peered into the depths of the oven, using all her senses to determine how close to done the crust was. It needed that perfect gold brown from caramelization all over.

Finally she decided it was enough. She opened the oven and pulled out the cobbler, setting it to cool on the large counter.

"So good!" Indy rocked forwards as her sister hugged her from behind. "Indy's so cuuuute!"

"Shut up and check the curry Portland," Indy muttered.

"Indy's no fun," Portland pouted as she went back to stirring.

Indy sighed and started prepping vegetables. Her sister had turned out to be a decent assistant, but was a little too huggy around open flames. And she was terrible with timing. They needed to get everything ready soon for dinner.

Cooking for an entire base was harder than she'd thought. Even a secondary base like Roi-Namur. But it was important. And it meant she could stay with her friends in the active fleet.

The ding of a timer brought her attention to the frier, and she pulled out a set of torpedo tempura. Excellent. They'd be ready soon.

"Naval curry's done!" Portland said as she pulled a big pot off the stove.

"Thanks Portland." Indy smiled. Everything would be ready for tonight.

* * *

Mni stretched as she stepped onto the port. Patrol was done, and they were gonna get some new comrades. It was shaping up to be a good day.

She looked over at Cassin. "So there's gonna be an Akashi coming?"

"Yep. Along with two more girls." Cassin frowned. "They wouldn't say who the noobs were though."

"Did they at least tell you what their classes were?" Mni asked.

"Hoping for more cruisers?" Hamman replied.

Mni started taking off her rigging. "I mean yeah. You destroyers are nice and all but I'd like a few more people up front taking the hits." Z46 helped disengage her AA guns, and Mni smiled. "Thanks, Z46."

The destroyer shook her head. "It's Kiel now."

"Ah sorry." Mni grinned. "Keep forgetting. But hey, you earned it Kiel."

"Thanks." A faint smile flitted across Kiel's face.

Hamman sniffed and began heading towards the kitchen. "Well come on. I want to see what Portland and Indy made for our new arrivals."

As they followed after Cassin spoke up. "I'm more curious what they did to get sent here."

"We aren't a punishment fleet," Mni said.

"Suuuure." Cassin rolled her eyes. "We just happen to get shipgirls who don't get along well with humans or did something weird."

Mni chuckled. "Sending ships who don't like humans to the base with no humans isn't a punishment."

"Suppose not," Cassin admitted.

The scent of fresh pastry crust hit Mni as they reached the entrance. Looked like Indy had prepared something special for their new arrivals. She looked over at Hamman. "Okay we need to plan this out. You go in first and distract your girlfriend so I can flirt with Indy without being interrupted."

Hamman gave her a dark look, but nodded. "Fine." The destroyer walked in, and Mni started a thirty count.

It wouldn't work, but she had to try right?'

* * *

Tirpitz watched the plane slowly roll to a stop. Strange they were flying in the new girls, but perhaps the two unknowns weren't trained fully yet.

Kaga and Victorious were behind her as her secretaries. The two had both refused to give up the position, and honestly Tirpitz was fine with that. They covered each other's weaknesses, in addition to her own.

The door opened, and Akashi was the first out. The repair ship saluted with her long sleeves. "Akashi reporting for duty, nya."

Tirpitz returned the gesture. "Welcome." She looked up. "So who are our other guests?"

"Ahaha," Akashi rubbed her head. "Well see, Akashi was doing some... recreational experiments with Wisdom Cubes from lost ships and-"

Two small shipgirls near stumbled out of the plane. At first Tirpitz thought they were destroyers, but then she noticed who they resembled and her eyes widened.

The small girl in Ironblood uniform glared at her before looking to her companion. "Hm, this one doesn't look like a pedo like the last Admiral."

The little fox girl sneered. "Maybe not Zeppy. Hey you! Congratulations, you get to be the slave of the great Akagi-chan!"

"And I kinda resurrected a couple of your friends. Sorta," Akashi finished.

Tirpitz just looked down at the two carrier children. What could she possibly say?

Fortunately the small Akagi broke the ice by running up and kicking her in the shins. "Hey! Show your appreciation slave!"

Tirpitz shook her head and smiled. "That's commander. And I'm already dating your sister." As the Akagi froze she turned to Kaga. "Can you handle this one?"

"No commander, but I'll keep the damage down," Kaga scruffed the little carrier. "Come now sister. Let's get you a room."

"Ah! How dare you try to capture a battlecruiser like me? Wait, where's my guns!?" The two trailed off towards the dorms.

Tirpitz turned back to find Victorious had already taken Zeppy's hand. The Ironblood child looked very suspicious. "You are with the Ironblood right?"

Victorious smiled brightly. "Well Tirpitz is commander of the base. What do you think Zeppy?"

Zeppy looked between the two suspiciously. "Well fine. But if this is a Royal Navy trap you'll taste my barrage!"

Tirpitz chuckled. "Admirable young one. Now let's show you to your room and then have dinner so I can introduce you to the rest of the fleet."

Victorious led the way while Tirpitz followed after with Akashi. The repair ship looked embarrassed. "So, uh, sorry about this. I kinda guess I tested without thinking."

"It turned out well in the end," Tirpitz said. She fixed the repair ship with a stern gaze. "But future experiments will require approval. Understand?"

"Nya!" Akashi saluted.

Tirpitz turned her attention back to the base. "Well then, we'll talk more later. For now welcome to Roi-Namur. I think you'll enjoy it here Akashi. Especially now that you've brought us some lively friends."

"Thanks commander."

Commander Tirpitz began the walk to the mess hall. She was sure Indy had prepared something nice. And today they had something to celebrate.


End file.
